Quaking aspen stand out for the subtle music of their leaves in a breeze and for their brilliant fall yellows. It turns out, aspen also shine with natural values that link several Blackfoot Challenge natural resource stewardship programs, including water, fire, wildlife and land stewardship. Recently the Blackfoot Challenge staff hosted a two-day workshop on aspen ecology and conservation, connecting aspen to all the ways we work within an ecosystem. The overarching goal of the workshop was to help partners and landowners learn more about the important role of aspen in our watershed and help us collaborate on aspen conservation across our landscape.
The event drew 65 participants from around Montana including state and federal agency staff, nonprofit program representatives, and landowners. Day 1 took place at the University of Montana’s Lubrecht Experimental Forest, featuring keynote speaker Paul Rogers of the Western Aspen Alliance at Utah State University. Other guest speakers included Fernando Sanchez, professor of Native American Studies at the University of Montana, Daniel Perret, researcher for the US Forest Service, and Torrey Ritter and Hannah Specht from Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks. Topics ranged from the cultural significance of aspen to its role in slowing wildfire and enhancing forest health to its value as food and shelter for diverse birds and mammals.
On the workshop’s second day, 45 participants piled on board a bus for a field tour, visiting four different aspen stands between Helmville and Ovando and taking a hike through aspen stands on the Blackfoot Community Conservation Area. The field tour showcased various aspen stands that have been managed with a range of success. An important lesson from the day was identifying the common factor limiting the ability of these stands to thrive and expand: over-browsing by ungulates and/or livestock.
“Unfortunately, there’s no one size fits all for managing aspen stands. Each is unique and faces different pressures,” said Blackfoot Challenge Land Steward Brad Weltzien. “The most important thing is to monitor and assess each stand to figure out what is influencing stand health so management actions can be taken if needed.”
When aiming to promote aspen stand health, you should see the stand replacing itself with new suckers that reach above the browse line (greater than 6 feet) – a process called “recruitment.” If this doesn’t happen, the stand will slowly decline and potentially disappear over time. As good stewards, landowners and land managers bear a responsibility to optimize the values on their land. Healthy aspen stands contribute to the ecological value of a property and to the watershed as a whole. Individual aspen stems live approximately 80-100 years, so if every generation strives for new recruitment, our aspen stands will have a bright future. As one landowner said, “I want to leave a legacy on the ranch for my children, and aspen stands are one of the ways to get there.”
If you’d like more information on aspen conservation and management, please contact the Blackfoot Challenge office to request a consultation. You can also learn more from this field guide authored by aspen ecologist Paul Rogers:
“Guide to Quaking Aspen Ecology and Management.” Paul C. Rogers, Western Aspen Alliance, Wildland Resources Department and Ecology Center, Utah State University.
https://qanr.usu.edu/western-aspen-alliance/files/aspen-field-guide.pdf