Trees Beautify Horseback Riding Trails

Bitterroot Dude Ranch

We have some magnificent trees around our dude ranch here in Wyoming’s Rocky Mountains. Many of the first white settlers came in search of their valuable lumber. Railway ties were cut to size with broad axes during the winter and floated down the Wind River at high water in the spring for 75 miles to Riverton from whence they were sent for use elsewhere by train. For almost a hundred years Dubois could almost be called a lumber town and there were more woodcutters than cowboys.

The trouble was that the cutting was going on at a far faster rate than the trees could grow in this comparatively dry country and the supply was becoming rapidly depleted. At first the lumbering was done selectively using horses which did less damage to the environment. Later clear cutting using big machinery was leaving terrible scars on the landscape and the impact on tourism and wildlife was becoming intolerable.

Fortunately 20 years ago we were able to get the Wyoming Wilderness Act passed by Congress and much of our most beautiful forests have been saved from exploitation. I was greatly honored to have a chapter written about me in the book prepared by the Wyoming Wilderness Association – Ahead of Their Time: Wyoming Voices for Wilderness.

Very little lumbering goes on in this area now and trees have started to grow again in many of places which were clear cut. Our horseback riding trails are made more attractive by the lovely trees. We have a wonderful combination of forests, sage brush plains and alpine meadows.

Here is a brief description of some of the most common trees on our ranch.

Quaking Aspen – Aspen are lovely white barked trees which shimmer with the slightest breeze. In the fall they turn a magnificent golden yellow and some groves have a tinge of red. The beaver love the inner bark of aspen which is one of their main foods and they use the trunks and branches to make their dams. Deer and elk will sometimes scrape off the bark in winter for food and they leave black scars on the trunks up to about 6 ft. above the ground.

Rocky Mountain Juniper – These small trees usually live for 200 to 300 years, but have been known to live 1,000. They were extensively used by early ranchers and farmers for making fence posts as they last for many decades in the ground. The juniper berries are edible and are sometimes eaten by big horned sheep and birds. They are more likely to germinate after passing through the digestive tract.

Limber Pine – This tenacious tree can live for over 1,000 years. It is often found on southern exposures and the crests of hills where the trunks are bent by the prevailing winds. They often have strange and gnarled shapes. The large cone has edible nuts which are eaten by many birds, especially the Clark’s nutcracker, as well as by grizzly bears.

Douglas Fir – These majestic trees are often over 100 ft. in height and can also live 1,000 years. They make excellent lumber and are sought after for building material and railway ties. The pine nuts provide food for birds and even mule deer.

Engelman Spruce - This is the most common spruce in the Rocky Mountains and provides good lumber. It can stand the old temperatures of the higher mountains and grows well around our ranch. There are many beautiful specimens along our river. Deer and sheep browse the branches and birds and squirrels eat the seeds.

Cottonwood – These lovely trees grow along water courses and where one sees a grove of them they usually indicate water close under the surface or a flowing stream. In July they produce a seek bearing downy fluff which floats lighter than snow flakes in the slightest wind. They provide habitat for birds and the beaver use their branches for making dams and their bark for food.

Trees not only add beauty, but they are vital to the health of our environment. They help prevent the soil from eroding and store water in their root systems, trunks and leaves. Perhaps most important these days; trees are the world’s major air filter and remove carbon monoxide and other pollutants from the atmosphere. We treat them with reverence at the Bitterroot Dude Ranch.

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