4 BULLETIN 1291, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
Table 1. — Aspen areas and stand 
State and forest 
Area 
Stand 
Stand 
per 
acre 
State and forest 
Area 
Stand 
Stand 
per 
acre 
Colorado: 
Arapaho - 
Acres 
36,000 
113, 400 
41,700 
4,000 
101, 890 
210, 500 
8,000 
162, 693 
21,547 
220,000 
183, 885 
54,000 
170, 000 
200,000 
187,000 
1,000 
cords 
50 
395 
40 
5 
164 
526 
4 
1,241 
50 
1,258 
735 
176 
680 
1,000 
655 
Cords 
1.4 
3.5 
1.0 
1.2 
1.6 
2.5 
.5 
7.6 
2.3 
5.7 
4.0 
3.3 
4.0 
5.0 
3.5 
New Mexico: 
Carson 
Acres 
76,000 
75,000 
1,000 
cords 
Cords 
Battlement 
Santa Fe 
Total 
Colorado 
151,000 
Utah: 
Ashley 
Holy Cross 
35,300 
176 
15 
120 
585 
710 
160 
180 
1,800 
180 
5.0 
Montezuma 
Dixie. 
Pike 
Fillmore 
20,917 
110, 485 
219, 156 
59,600 
58,500 
364, 778 
51,896 
5.7 
5.3 
Routt 
3.2 
San Isabel 
PoweD.-. 
2.7 
3.1 
4,9 
White River 
Wasatch 
3.5 
Total 
Total 
1, 714, 615 
6,979 
4.1 
920, 632 
3,926 
4.3 
Wyoming: 
Idaho: 
Cache l 
152,000 
181, 239 
6,647 
90, 538 
20,500 
101, 752 
456 
250 
3.0 
1.4 
60,000 
40,000 
14, 573 
21, 170 
10,233 
84,599 
90 
20 
19 
63 
53 
89 
1.5 
Caribou 
Hay den 
.5 
Lemhi 
Medicine Bow 
1.3 
181 
20 
2.0 
1.0 
3.0 
5.2 
Targhee 
Wyoming 
1. 1 
Total 
Total .- 
552, 676 
907 
1.6 
230, 575 
334 
1.4 
Nevada: 
Humboldt 
181,239 
12, 608 
190, 418 
309 
13 
190 
1.7 
1.0 
1.0 
Toiyabe 
Total . _. 
384, 265 
512 
1.3 
1 About one-half of the Cache National Forest lies in Utah. 
From the table and map it will be seen that there is, within the 
region where aspen is important on account of the large areas which 
it occupies, a restricted area in western Colorado and central Utah 
where aspen is of especial importance. Here the trees very fre- 
quently grow to large sizes and accordingly have a greater commer- 
cial value. To the north and east of this area of maximum impor- 
tance, aspen comes into competition with lodgepole pine, which 
invades much the same class of sites that aspen finds most suitable. 
Largely for this reason the stands of aspen are broken, mixed with 
lodgepole pine, and generally are of inferior quality. 
To the south and west of the region of maximum development, the 
aspen, which is by nature a northern species, meets with climatic 
conditions that appear to be less favorable to it. 
Within the whole region where aspen is of secondary importance 
the ephemeral nature of the type is rarely questioned and its limita- 
tion to burns or other open areas where the original coniferous tim- 
ber has been destroyed is readily apparent in most cases. But with- 
in the central region, where aspen is of greatest importance and 
value, it presents many characteristics of a permanent climax forest 
type. "While this permanence is probably more a matter of super- 
ficial appearance than actuality in most cases, it is necessary in much 
of this region, as far as forest management is concerned, to treat 
aspen as a permanent type because of the length of time that will 
be required to effect a transformation into the coniferous type. 
