Ponderosa Forest

Image Credit to Google and Charles Card

About

One of the most abundant tree species in the United States, the Ponderosa Pine (Pinus Ponderosa) covers 35% of the country’s area (Ehleringer). In the Grand Canyon, these pines can be found on the North and South Rims of the park at elevations between 7,000 and 8,000 ft., below the Boreal Forest and above the and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland.

Historical vs. Today

Like many other national parks, a unique feature of the Grand Canyon is the preserved ecosystems which disallows commercial destruction of forests, allowing to Canyon's Ponderosa Forests to look much the way they did when the Grand Canyon was granted national park status in 1919 .

Ponderosas are easily identified by their thick, orange-red bark and straight trunks. The bark of the Pines is also said to project a sweet vanilla aroma and it isn't uncommon to find visitors with their noses to the trunks of trees (Arizona Republic).

The Ponderosa Tree

Image Source: National Arborists

The Ponderosas of the Grand Canyon can reach heights up to 110 ft. and diameters of 5 ft., but can grow taller in the moisture-rich mountains. In fact, John Muir recorded a 220 ft. Ponderosa with an 8ft. diameter trunk in the Sierra Nevada Mountains (GC Natural History)!

Image Source: WWPA

Aside from their beauty, Ponderosas have served humans in many ways. Native Americans used the seeds for food production and the pitch for the waterproofing of canoes (NPS). Currently, Ponderosa lumber is in high demand for furniture, cabinets, and trims for homes. After Fir, Ponderosa Pine is the second most heavily produced lumber (WWPA). Fortunately, this lumber isn’t being logged in the Grand Canyon! Ponderosas are plentiful outside the Grand Canyon, with other forests in Utah’s Bryce Canyon and Black Hills National Forest that spans South Dakota and Wyoming.

Conservation

Additionally, Ponderosa forests draw tourists to the Grand Canyon and contribute to $500 million in tourist revenue that the Canyon collects each year (NPS).

Despite the high demand for Ponderosa lumber, the species is well-conserved. Ponderosa’s are not typically clear cut; rather, the older, mature trees are selectively harvested, leaving the younger trees to reseed the soil and repopulate the forests(WWPA). The sustainable logging practices coupled with the current abundance of Ponderosa Pines allow us to remain optimistic about the future of the species.

The Future

Selective cutting of the Ponderosa Pines in Oregon. Image Source: Wikipedia

Despite the prosperous future of Ponderosa forests, water depletion due to economic development in the Grand Canyon is a salient issue for environmentalists. The Escalade Project, for example, plans to develop the easternmost portion of the Grand Canyon into a resort with a tramway to shuttle tourists to the floor of the Canyon. The drilling required for the $120 million development could disrupt the regional aquifer that supplies most of the water to the Grand Canyon and threaten all of its biomes (Grand Canyon Trust). 

The map below shows the planned development of the Escalade Project at the confluence of the Colorado Rivers near the Eastern edge of the Canyon. The 420-acre plan includes a hotel, RV park, motels, fast-food restaurants. The resort will include a Navajo "cultural center" as well (Batlle).

Planned development at the confluence of the Colorado Rivers, including a tramway to the floor of the Grand Canyon.
Image Source: Tucson Sentinel

Mining is another lucrative practice that potentially threatens the historical integrity of the Grand Canyon. The Park has seen a dramatic increase in mining claims in the past decade, where $1 billion of precious metals are removed from protected areas and their adjacent regions each year. The below chart summarizes the 2000% increase in mining claims near the Grand Canyon in the last 35 years.

The future of the Grand Canyon and similar parks are left in jeopardy as outdated mining laws "[put] prospecting ahead of other activities on most of America’s public lands," according to a report by the Pew Environment Group (Casimiro).

Image Source: Adventure Journal

On the other hand, the commercial boost could potentially ameliorate the high unemployment and poverty that plagues the Navajo economy in the surrounding rural communities. Those concerned about the future of the Grand Canyon must weigh the economic benefit of developing the region with the cultural benefit of maintaining the Park’s historical integrity. 

Did You Know?

In 1952, the U.S. Department of Defense cut down 145 Ponderosa Pines and shipped them to a nuclear weapon testing facility in Nevada to test the effect of atomic bombs on forests. The DoD's experiment confirmed that atomic blasts can, in fact, destroy forests. 

Video footage of the experiment shows the initial (overhead) blast setting fire to the the trees, while the subsequent shock wave destroyed them and created more fires (Finkbeiner).