Vintage Tree

The First Arbor Day

(Library of Congress) The first official Arbor Day took place on April 10th, 1872. It is estimated that on this inaugural Arbor Day, Nebraskans celebrated by planting more than one million trees.
The occasion fulfilled the dream of J. Sterling Morton, a newspaper editor and former governor of the Nebraska Territory. Morton, an ardent proponent of forestation, lobbied for a holiday to encourage the planting of trees.
According to the National Arbor Day Foundation, counties and individuals that planted the most trees were awarded prizes. Continued

Thorny

“That’s when I went out to the Staked Plains … there ain’t six trees between there and Canada, and nothing else grows but has stickers on it.”
 – Charles Portis (True Grit)

Smokey the Sheep?

(Santa Fe New Mexican) ... In the 19th century, livestock interrupted the cycle of frequent, cooler fires. “Historically the fires were just burning grass, so when the sheep came in and ate all the grass, there was nothing to burn,” Margolis said.
“We see fires actually stopped in this area in the late 1800s because that’s when the railroad brought a lot of livestock in.”
Then, starting in the 1940s, Smokey Bear’s mission to suppress all forest fires resulted in the buildup of brush and dead tree material that served as explosive fuel when big fires did occur. Continued

A Bumper Crop

 

 

 

 

 

The rains have brought a bumper crop of wildflowers to the backroads of the region.

Windbreak

Is there anything more stubborn than a Southwestern tree?

Old House 92

Study: Tree deaths outpace new growth across New Mexico

 

 

(Santa Fe New Mexican) New Mexico trees are dying faster than they are being replaced with new growth across much of the state, according to a study on forest health released Tuesday. Brown trees dotting landscapes around the state are a highly visible sign of what’s happening.
The study by the U.S. Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station is a kind of encyclopedia of New Mexico forests, one that researchers hope can be consistently updated every few years. It uses data gathered at 3,000 forested sites on private and federal lands between 2008 and 2012. Continued

How Green Was My Mesa

 

 

What a difference a little rain makes. After 3 years of drought, the rain has returned to the Llano Estacado and greened things up nicely. The above pictures give a nice before and after view. Both taken at Wheatland Cemetery, the first on May 5th, before the rains came, the second was taken yesterday. The rest of the pictures were taken yesterday in the McAlister/House area, which seems to have turned out even greener. The photographs are mostly of the roadside as it represents a part of the landscape that is rarely irrigated. We made a big loop covering Tucumcari, Wheatland, Clovis, Melrose, House, McAlister, etc., and it all looked relatively verdant. The drought isn't over, that would take a lot more rain, but, as you can see in the pictures, there's more rain coming. Let's hope it continues for a good long time.