Ahhh, wonderful fall. The waning warmth from the sun brings a welcome chill from summer heat, migrating birds start heading to their southern range, and deciduous hardwoods begin turning red, orange, and yellow heralding the leaf peeping season. Sugar maples give up the green for eye-popping reds, orange and brown tones come to the stately oaks, and white-barked aspens put on a display of vivid yellows and golds. But if its aspens that trigger your camera finger, take your pictures now, as aspens from Arizona to Colorado to Idaho are falling by the tens of thousands.
These picturesque groves of aspens are not just a pretty face. Their fire resistance also serves as a fire break, their thin branches that allow sunlight to filter through encourage grasses to grow on the forest floor–as much as 2,000 pounds per acre–holding water destined for metropolitan areas, and they provide a habitat for elk, deer, and birds.
The die-off, caused by parasitic insects (one of which, the aspen bark beetle, is so rare that it was previously mentioned only once in scientific papers) and termed Sudden Aspen Decline (SAD), started seven years ago. But with the current warming trend accentuated by the recent drought, SAD has accelerated, most noticeably in Colorado where nearly one-fifth–500,000 acres–of its aspen groves have been affected. Where once flocks of tourists came to ooh and aah over the flaming golden leaves, now only an army of dead aspen skeletons cover the hillsides. Scientists estimate that in the 1800s aspens covered 10 million acres, while now only 4 million acres remain.
Climate change, though hastening the current aspen decline, is not the only culprit affecting the aspens. Previous forest management policies dictated prevention of fires, which also led to a proliferation of big conifers that crowd out the aspens. But more important, aspen grow in “clones” from a massive root system of genetically identical trunks, some thousands of years old (though the individual trees only last about 150 years). Some aspen groves are believed to be the world’s heaviest, largest, or oldest organisms. Wildfires prompt these clone groves to send up fresh sprouts revitalizing aspen forests. But studies are finding out that new growth is rare in SAD-affected stands.
So if you planned on fall camping or boondocking in a golden yellow aspen grove, you better hurry.
Check out my eBook, BOONDOCKING: Finding the Perfect Campsite on America’s Public Lands on my Web site or at RVbookstore.com.
