# forest change - continuing



## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

Change. Its everywhere. When the pioneers first got here, what was this land like? Was it better, worse, or just different. My opinion is that we should pick a general state of forest health and manage to that goal. One that provides ecological protection for watersheds, vegetation and for wildlife. There is a place for old growth as well as new growth, however, the majority of our forests should provide for a diversity of all kinds of species - not the monoculture of lodgepole or pinyon/juniper, etc. there should be a place for wilderness and a place for ATV's.
Originally, the valleys were predominantly grasslands - great basin wild rye - fire kept the valleys as grassland. Sage brush occupied the area upslope. Pinyon juniper were on steeper slopes yet. Fires kept them out of the valleys and thinned out where there was lots of open space between trees. when fire went out and the cutting of P/J for posts and the making of charcoal (mining industry used millions of board feet of wood for charcoal to smelt ore on site - that was the cottage industry for ranches and farms from 1880-1930) pinyon juniper took over many areas. The Vernon creek chaining project increased streamflow up by 20% or more and spring that were long dry, came back to life&#8230; by taking the woodland back to a 'better state' and look at the deer herd - trophy by any standard. Good example of changing a woodland to a desired state and having positive benefits for water, vegetation and critters.
Forest today - need some change to become 'healthy forests'. Charles Kay at usu has some good points regarding fire, forests, etc. here:
http://westinstenv.org/ffsci/2009/10/07 ... this-mess/
there is also a great resource in looking at repeat photography at this location:
http://extension.usu.edu/rra/
and here are some good examples from my files&#8230;
this is buckboard flat near monticello from 1936 and from 2005 or so. notice the change from meadow/aspent to closed conifer and some aspen. notice how thick the stand is. then ask - does this allow for diversity of species? nope, very little grass, browse, etc. this ecosystem just supports trees and not much else.

i will put some other up in aother file as this one keeps jumbling up on me... shows how things have changed and what we think is normal, may not be in the best interest of the bigger picture... which for me is more deer, more elk, more fish, more water... fewer trees.


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## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

the annie laurie mine in the tushars


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## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

equitable sawmill by panguitch


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## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

mill d south fork on the wasatch front. notice especially the hillslope coverage behind the meadow...


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## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

cool sequence on grazing, over grazing from 1870 to 1940... takes along time to heal the land... north twin lakes, 1919, 1945 and recent


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## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

redden mine, just up above marion, near kamas. just some examples of the change over the past 100 years or more... with much of it due to the change in how we manage forests and land... or dont manage it. gives us opportunity to think how we should/could/ought to manage it and to what purpose.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Those are cool, thanks for sharing. Some of the change is good, some not so good. 

Yesterday I looked at some before and after pics of North Slope of the Uintas at the Bear River Ranger Station.

I've been thinking about looking up the North Slope tie-hack industry at the Evanston Library and posting some timber-cutting pics.


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## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

what is fun about the tie hacking is that the irish started it... and they had no knowledge about timbering or cabin building. the tie hack cabins you find on the norht slope that are built on sloping ground and are basically logs stacked on top of each other... irish. then the scandinavians took over and they knew how to cut, shape, etc. look at blacks fork commisary and look close at some of the logs, you can see the adze marks in the logs and they are tight... really good workmanship. suicide park has swede olson and 2 others in it... swede got too old to work and had a forced retirement to evanston... couldnt take civilization and came back to freeze to death. the scandinavians were replaced by cheaper labor... chinese. cool stuff to investigate... look up the hilliard loggin company, they built the log flume to take the ties to the railroad which meant they didnt have to skid em over the snow or haul em in wagons. neat history...


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## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

here ya are goob.


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## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

here is blacks fork commissary... notice the axe marks in the timbers... these were scandihooovians... my folk.


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## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

look at the size of the doug fir they are hauling... and notice what they leave standing. lodgepole


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## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

check the doug fir on the wagons..


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Kingfisher said:


> here ya are goob.


Thanks, cool.

I believe I've seen the first 3 pictures. Is it Mill Creek? (the Mill Creek east of the Bear River)

The flumes they built were astonishing; Mill Creek, Sulphur Creek, Gold Hill (another Mill Creek). Hilliard took a lot of logs for ties, lumber, and charcoal. It was as big as Evanston when the railroad was coming through.


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## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

these were sent to me by the kid doing his masters... no captions included. however, it does look like that general area.


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