Utah Issues
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Reversing a silent decline
Aspen, willow, and cottonwood share something more than their silky-haired seeds and a common family name (Salicaceae, the willow family): All three are declining throughout the West.
One of the main stresses is that the sprouts and saplings of these water-loving plants are being eaten repeatedly by cattle, sheep, elk, and deer. If the topmost branches (the leaders and subleaders within about 6 inches of the leaders) are repeatedly browsed, then the aspen, cottonwood, and tall species of willow cannot exceed the browse height of 6 to 7 feet. Eventually, entire willow patches, cottonwood galleries, and aspen stands can — and do — disappear from the landscape
This is a major loss because willow, aspen, and cottonwood support an unusually high number of native animal species and, especially in the case of aspen, provide habitat for a diversity of understory plants. Willows and cottonwood hold riparian banks together with their deep roots, and aspen provide far higher water yields than conifer stands. Aspen stands are second only to riparian areas in the West for supporting the greatest number of native species.
Curiously, few people or forests have been measuring the intensity of browsing by the hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep that are permitted for 4 months each year in the three national forests in southern Utah. Monitoring is lacking despite the common sight of aspen stands with only one, old-age class of trees; old, hedged willows with no young willows in sight; and grand old cottonwoods with no new, replacement generation reaching upward.
Click here to see our 2010 cottonwood,aspen, and willow project activities.
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