Local History of Chaffee County Major Forest Health Issues Forest

Local History of Chaffee County
Major Forest Health Issues
Forest Ecology
Recent Large Fires
Early settlers/homesteaders: Subsistence
Homesteaders in the Arkansas Valley and out west harvested a lot of trees to build and heat their homes.
Sawmills also were in the area and they milled logs into lumber that was used to build homes.
Railroad logging: right-of-ways, ties, bridges, & charcoal
The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Company set up shop in Salida and
essentially built the town. There were several different rail lines in the
county but a lot of them no longer exists. The boat ramp in Salida was the
monarch spur rail line
25% of U.S. lumber consumption went to railroads
(approx. 20 million acres of forest 1850-1910)
Much of our forests were harvested. A lot of the trees today are less than 150 years old. There are still
places along the river and in the county where you can find the older trees.
350,000 miles of track @ 2,500 ties/mile
(needed replacing every 5-7 years, too)
Mining Timbers
Gold and silver mining was very active in Chaffee County. Up Chalk Creek is the town of Saint Elmo which was the center of the mining district.
Mary Murphy mine is between Hancock and Saint Elmo. By 1881 the mine had become the largest ore producer in the Chalk Creek area yielding
on average $12,000 per day.
Charcoal for iron smelters
Salida had its own smelter which cost about 1 million dollars to construct and employed 300 men. On
October 25 1902 the first furnace of 6 furnaces started. In 1903 it processed over 1 million dollars worth of
ore which yielded gold, silver, lead, and copper. It ran for less than 20 years. One stack remains as a historic
site.
Smeltertown
Roundhouse in Salida
The round house was used to service and repair engines. It was one of the largest round house
between Salt Lake City and Denver. The roundhouse was located where Calco is today (the old
building down river left below F street).
Fire destroyed 17 locomotives in the
roundhouse & shops Dec. 11th 1892
Rio Grande Railroad Station
The Denver and Rio Grande remained strong into the 1920s, but tough economic conditions among farmers
and on the Great Plains , with the Great Depression, and the Dust Bowls of the 1930s and 1950s weakened
the company. The last freight train from Pueblo via, Salida, Brown’s Canyon , Nathrop, Leadville and over
Tennessee Pass ran Sunday, August 23rd 1997. The last passenger train was 1964.
Insect Forest Health
Update
For 2013, the spruce beetle remained the dominant
insect threat for Colorado’s forests. The spruce beetle
has impacted nearly 400,000 acres statewide.
Thousands of Acres Infested
1200
1000
Mountain Pine Beetle
Spruce Beetle
800
600
400
200
0
Year
Between 70 and 90 percent of Engelmann spruce trees in the
San Juan Mountains have been killed by spruce beetles, which is
evidenced by the gray trees. It remains to be seen what toll the
spruce beetle will take in the Arkansas Valley.
Lecture 5: Emerging Voices for Conservation
Slide: 13 / 42
Although on the decline, mountain pine beetle has impacted more than 3.4
million acres in Colorado since the current epidemic began in 1996.
Mountain pine beetle is not a problem in the Arkansas Valley. Most of the
epidemic occurred in northern and northeastern Colorado. I
Lecture 5: Emerging Voices for Conservation
Slide: 14 / 42
Emerald ash borer was detected in Boulder County in
September 2013. Approximately 20 percent of all
trees on Colorado’s Front Range are ash trees.
Lecture 5: Emerging Voices for Conservation
Slide: 15 / 42
Piñon Pine Ecology
• 5,200 – 9,000 feet in
elevation
• Adapted to drought and cold
• Easily killed by fire due to
thin bark
• Flammable foliage
• Dead lower branches will
accumulate
• Dense forests
• Intense wind driven
wildfires!
Ponderosa Pine Fire Ecology
• 5,000 – 9,000 feet in elevation
•
•
•
•
•
•
Resistant to wildfire
Open tree crowns
Thick, insulating bark on mature trees
Self-pruning branches
Home to Abert squirrels
Adapted to frequent, low-intensity ground fires to reduce
competition
• Elevation range grow near river banks in riparian areas
• ires
Black Forest Fire Colorado Springs
Over grown Forest need to be thinned so a fire can have beneficial
effects and the fire is not followed by a flood.
Black Forest Fire
Black Forest Fire
Managed Forest
Unmanaged Forest
Waldo Canyon Fire
345 Homes Lost in 4 hours
The Waldo Canyon destroyed the most homes of any wildland fire in Colorado’s history. The fire
was located on the west side of Colorado Springs.
Damon Lange
District Forester
Colorado State Forest Service
719-539-2579
Damon.Lange@colostate.edu
http://csfs.colostate.edu/