#pinyon pine

Life Finds A Way

In my wanderings through the deserts of the southwest US, I always get excited when I wander into a juniper-pinyon forest. Particularly on a warm or hot day, the “piney” smell is prevalent, reminding me of walking through a pine forest higher in the mountains or up north. In areas where joshua trees grow, sometimes the joshua trees will team up with the pinyon pine and the juniper, and provide the hiker or observer with not just the enticing odor, but with a visual treat. In addition, you can experience the sounds....wind whistling through pine needles and birds, among other sounds. Yet, trump’s BLM is “chaining” the juniper-pinyon forest in order to make more open space, friendlier to ranchers and ostensibly to farms (doubt that seriously) and allegedly for the benefit of wildlife and to reduce the risk of wildfires. All the allegedly are just that......allegedly, and lies. trump science, not real science. In terms of wildfires, chaining and the destruction allow the introduction of invasive plants, most notable invasive grasses. Nothing starts up a vicious wildlife more effectively than a field of dried, invasive grasses.

Some photos might help. The first is an intact, virgin juniper-pinyon forest in Utah. The second shows us one of the processes used in chaining. The third shows us the outcome of the destruction. Does that destroyed land look conducive to wildlife? Nah. But it looks sad.......trumpian.

Excerpt from this National Geographic story:

“Species are present in these desert ecosystems that we didn’t know existed,” says Carolyn Shelton, a former assistant manager at the monument, home to the second highest diversity of bee species in North America, including 49 species previously unknown to science discovered in the last five years.

“The eggs of those wild bees are in the soil, and seeds from a rare plant or flower are in the soil. Sometimes it takes up to a decade for precipitation to be just right so that seed germinates and that bee hatches and is present so it can pollinate that flower,” adds Shelton, who retired in 2016 after 30 years with the BLM.

Heavy equipment use on fragile desert landscapes threatens to escalate erosion, encourage flammable invasive species, and destroy biomes already compromised by climate change, scientists say. Archeologists found the earliest evidence of wild potato use in North America near Grand Staircase, where less than 10 percent of the ground has been surveyed. In Utah, such projects endanger irreplaceable cultural artifacts and fossils that remain buried and unmapped.

The BLM also plans to use chaining—a controversial practice in which two bulldozers drag an anchor chain that upends everything in its path—to fell trees in Grand Staircase, even though its own management plans found the method irreparably harms the landscape. Research funded in part by the federal government determined such treatments imperil the pinyon jay, whose population has plummeted 85 percent since 1970.

Pinyon Pine

Pinyon Pine Needle Syrup

The original recipe comes from Italy - Mugolio Pine Cone syrups