Piny on- Jumper in the Southwest 



345 



a high opinion of the value of the pin- 

 yon-juniper forest; the pinyon is their 

 traditional Christmas tree, and they 

 use the foliage of the pinyon and 

 the juniper for decorations on special 

 occasions. 



The coming of the American to the 

 Southwest in increasing numbers after 

 1840 added several new elements. To 

 the usual demand for forest products 

 were added new ones: Demand for 

 more fencing materials to take care of 

 the expanding herds of domestic live- 

 stock and more fuel to supply the grow- 

 ing population. 



This demand for fuel continued 

 heavy until the railroads reached the 

 Southwest, coal mining increased, and 

 oil and gas became available. Such 

 changes have lowered the local con- 

 sumption of wood fuel at many points 

 and have reduced the demands on the 

 piny on- juniper forest, but have by no 

 means eliminated the need. 



In depression times, the use of wood 

 is greatly increased, and many people 

 get their supply directly from the for- 

 est; many rural families still depend 

 entirely on wood, and many towns- 

 people prefer wood for fuel. Wood- 

 yards in towns and cities still do a good 

 business. 



The demand for pinyon-juniper will 

 continue, too, as long as people like a 

 wood-burning fireplace, for which 

 there is nothing quite like the heat of 

 the pinyon and the fragance of burn- 

 ing juniper. 



OVER THE YEARS the products of 

 the forest have been used largely for 

 domestic purposes and near the forest. 

 Some fuel and posts have been pro- 

 duced commercially to supply local 

 demands and for shipment to other 

 States. Also produced are pinyon char- 

 coal, props and ties for coal mines, 

 fuel for burning lime and for smelting 

 ores, and fence posts. The posts bring 

 the highest stumpage price of any 

 product from the type ; juniper is used 

 for this purpose. The most serviceable 

 post is one split from an old tree that 

 has 3 inches or more of heartwood, but 



younger trees that have an appreciable 

 amount of heartwood are excellent; 

 the highly colored heartwood is the 

 part that resists decay. 



The pinyon nut has been handled 

 commercially for the past 40 years. 

 The value in relation to bulk makes 

 shipment to distant points possible. 

 Before 1940, nearly l/ 2 million pounds 

 were shipped annually. In 1936, the 

 shipments totaled 8 million pounds. 

 Pickers have been paid as little as 5 

 cents a pound, and up to 60 cents in 

 1947 when the crop was almost a total 

 failure. A fair crop in 1948 resulted in 

 a price of 25 cents to 30 cents a pound. 



When a good crop of nuts is pro- 

 duced, only a small percentage of the 

 crop is gathered. Demand is normally 

 below supply. The surplus is usually 

 stored to meet needs during later years 

 of crop failure. Crop failures are fre- 

 quent and therefore it would probably 

 be unprofitable to undertake any cost- 

 ly effort to encourage greater use. Most 

 of the nuts shipped in the past went 

 to New York City. Some are consumed 

 locally, some are machine-shelled, and 

 some, after shelling, are made into 

 candy. 



Only limited attempts have been 

 made to exploit the products of the 

 woodland forest for other than the 

 conventional uses of fuels and posts. 

 The small size, rapid taper, and low 

 quality of the usual stem of both pin- 

 yon and juniper, with the consequent 

 high expense of producing usable 

 sawn material, have discouraged use. 

 Only relatively small-sized, clear pieces 

 can be cut, and waste is heavy. Pencil 

 slats were produced experimentally 

 from the Utah juniper. These were 

 satisfactory, but too expensive to meet 

 competition. Some sawn material has 

 been cut from the Rocky Mountain 

 juniper and used as closet lining, cus- 

 tom-built furniture, for inlays and 

 cedar chests, and so forth. Costs are 

 high, but the products are attractive. 

 The colored heartwood has been used 

 for carvings and novelties, but only on 

 a small scale. The cones of the pinyon 

 are being used to produce incense. 



