THE SILVA OF COLORADO^ 



I. Trees of the Pine Family in Colorado 

 By Francis Ramaley 



Our principal forest trees. — The trees of the pine family are of such 

 value to Colorado that some account of them should be useful. The 

 early settlers used native wood for fuel before coal was mined; and 

 native pine and spruce furnished the material for building purposes and 

 for mine timbers. Even at the present time a considerable amount of 

 timber is being cut in all our mountian counties. Aside from the pines, 

 spruces and firs there are few trees of economic value in the state. 

 Along the rivers and creeks the various cottonwoods and willows occur. 

 On the mesas and foothills west of the front range there are in many 

 places large groves of quaking aspen, but all of these trees are used 

 chiefly for firewood and not for lumber as are the pines and spruces. 



The value of forests is not merely in the lumber which may be cut 

 from them. In all mountain regions forests are needed for protection. 

 A protection forest saves the soil from being washed away,^ it prevents 

 too rapid melting of snow and consequent floods and it provides steady 

 stream-flow for irrigation in the lowlands. Without forests on our 

 hills and mountains there could be little agriculture in Colorado. 

 Wherever mountain forests are dense the soil is deep and, retaining 

 moisture for a long time, furnishes the streams with a constant supply 

 of water doled out little by little through the season. 



Some economic considerations. — Large areas in the foothills and 

 in the mountains of Colorado can never be used for agriculture or for 

 mining. If they are to be made productive they must be allowed to 

 grow up with trees. Fires must be kept down and the forests protected 

 from injury of all kinds. Many of the partly denuded hillsides can be 

 clothed with timber in thirty or forty years. The time is coming soon 



' This paper is one of a series which will deal with the trees and shrubs of Colorado. 



" As is well known, France and other European countries have suffered severely from deforestation 

 of mountain slopes. Not only have the hillsides been denuded of soil but much of the lowland country 

 has been ruined by the sand and gravel washed down upon it. 



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