Written Historical Accounts

Written historical accounts have provided valuable information to modern scientists regarding changes in land cover since European settlement, which brought rapid and sometimes irreversible changes to the landscapes of the Colorado Plateau. The earliest Spanish explorers, accustomed as they were to the plains of Spain and Mexico and focused on gold and silver, found little in the details of vegetation and topography of the Southwest to merit inclusion in their journals. More fruitful are the notes of nineteenth century American exploring parties, many of which included professionally trained Army surveyors.

Lt. Edwin Beale, traversing northern Arizona on an exploratory expedition in 1857, famously described the pine forests of the southern Colorado Plateau:

Vermejo Park Watercolor by Fran Joseph

We came to a glorious forest of lofty pines...The country was beautifully undulating, and although we usually associate the idea of barrenness with the pine regions, it was not so in this instance; every foot being covered with the finest grass, and beautiful broad grassy vales extending in every direction. The forest was perfectly open and unencumbered with brush wood, so that the travelling was excellent...

Charles F. Cooper, in his 1960 report, "Changes in vegetation, structure, and growth of southwestern pine forests since white settlement" used historical accounts such as Beale's as well as an analysis of stand structure to attempt a comprehensive description of pre-settlement forest conditions. Noting that the pine forests of northern Arizona were "almost unique in the the United States in that reasonably well-planned scientific exploration preceded extensive exploitation," Cooper is often cited for his conclusion that "the entire forest was once much more open and park-like than it is today." Cooper found more recent historical accounts equally useful in tracking the increase in area and density of pine reproduction stands, the deterioration of watershed conditions through loss of springs and arroyo cutting, and changes in species composition and abundance of wildlife.

Luna Leopold, in his classic 1951 report, "Vegetation of southwestern watersheds in the nineteenth century," also compared descriptions of vegetative conditions from published diaries and field notes of members of early American exploring parties with the same landscapes at the midpoint of the twentieth century. Despite the recollections of many old-timers who told of grass "stirrup high" prior to the intensive livestock grazing pressure that came with Anglo settlement, Leopold found it commonly reported from many areas of the southwest, even in some alluvial valleys, that "grass was so poor that forage for a string of horses could hardly be obtained."

Of course, all historical descriptions of the Colorado Plateau must pale beside those of the man who gave the Colorado Plateau its name, Major John Wesley Powell. His 92 day journey in 1869 in small boats through the last completely unknown major river in the United States, the Colorado, is the stuff of legend. But it was as a serious scientific explorer that Powell made the trip again two years later, mapping and surveying the route carefully. In addition, he assembled a team of scientists who explored the high plateaus of Utah, including Zion and Bryce Canyons, the Henry and Uinta Mountains, and the Colorado Plateau. Powell's "A Report Upon Lands of the Arid Regions of the United States," is judged one of the most important books ever produced by an American. In it he not only described the flora, fauna and geomorphology of the area, but called for restraint on the headlong settlement of the west and the wasting of scarce resources. In the judgment of  historian William H. Goetzmann, "If sodbusters, cattlemen, and greedy mining magnates had listened to Powell there would have been far less feuding in the Gilded Age West, a new and better Homestead Act, and far more resources left for future generations."

Where have all the grasslands gone? Numerous ecological studies across the Southwest have documented the decline in herbaceous vegetation (grasses and non-woody flowering plants) while forests thicken and brush invades. Documenting the changes in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico, ecologist Craig Allen considers the evidence that these patterns are tied to changes in land use history, primarily livestock grazing and fire suppression.

Changed Southwestern Forests: Resource effects and management remedies. Over 150 years of occupancy by northern Europeans has markedly changed vegetative conditions in the Southwest. Less fire due to grazing and fire suppression triggered a shift to forests with very high tree densities, which in turn contributed to destructive forest fires. Options to deal with these changes include prescribed fire, thinning and timber harvest to mimic natural disturbances and conditions. However, there are barriers to implementing these activities on a scale large enough to have a significant benefit. Adapted from a published journal article by Marlin Johnson.

Baker, R. D., R. S. Maxwell, V. H. Treat, and H. C. Dethloff. 1988. Timeless heritage: A history of the Forest Service in the Southwest. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Washington, DC.

Beale, E. F. 1858. Wagon road from Fort Defiance to the Colorado River. Senate Executive Document 124. 35th Congress, 1st Session, Washington, D.C.

Christensen, E. M., and H. B. Johnson. 1963. Presettlement vegetation and vegetational changes in three valleys in central Utah. Brigham Young University Science Bulletin Biological Series 4: 1-16.

Cooper, C. F. 1960. Changes in vegetation, structure, and growth of southwestern pine forests since white settlement. Ecological Monographs 30: 129-164.

Cooper, C. F. 1961. Pattern in ponderosa pine forests. Ecology 42: 493-499.

Covington, W. W. 1992. Postsettlement changes in natural fire regimes: Implications for restoration of old-growth ponderosa pine forests. Pp. 81-99 In M. R. Kaufmann, editor. Old-growth forests in the Southwest and Rocky Mountain regions. U.S. Forest Service.

Covington, W. W., P. Z. Fulé, M. M. Moore, S. C. Hart, T. E. Kolb, J. N. Mast, S. S. Sackett, and M. R. Wagner. 1997. Restoring ecosystem health in ponderosa pine forests of the Southwest. Journal of Forestry 95: 23-29.

Covington, W. W., R. L. Everett, R. W. Steele, L. I. Irwin, T. A. Daer, and A. N. D. Auclair. 1994. Historical and anticipated changes in forest ecosystems of the inland west of the United States. Journal of Sustainable Forestry 2: 13-63.

Dahms, C. W., and B. W. Geils, editors. 1997. An assessment of forest ecosystem health in the Southwest. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Fort Collins, CO.

Davis, O. K., R. H. Hevly, and J. R. D. Foust. 1985. A comparison of historic and prehistoric vegetation change caused by man in central Arizona. In B. F. Jacobs, P. F. Fall, and O. K. Davis, editors. Late Quaternary vegetation and climates of the American Southwest. American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists, Houston, TX.

de Buys, W. 1985. Enchantment and Exploitation: The life and hard times of a New Mexico mountain range. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM.

Goetzmann, William H. 1966. Exploration and empire: The explorer and the scientist in the winning of the American West. Knopf, New York, NY.

Ives, J. C. 1861. Report upon the Colorado River of the West, explored in 1857 and 1858. Senate Document 90. 36th Congress, 1st Session, Washington, D.C.

Johnsen, T. N., Jr. 1962. One-seed juniper invasion of northern Arizona grasslands. Ecological Monographs 32: 187-207.

Johnsen, T. N., Jr., and J. W. Elson. 1979. Sixty years of change on a central Arizona grassland-juniper woodland ecotone. U.S. Department of Agriculture Science and Education Administration.

Kitson, L. C. 1923. Pinon. American Forests 29: 58-159.

Leopold, L. B. 1951. Vegetation of southwestern watersheds in the nineteenth century. The Geographical Review 41: 295-316.

Merriam, C. H. 1890. Results of a biological survey of the San Francisco mountain region and the desert of the Little Colorado, Arizona. Division of Ornithology and Mammalia, North American Fauna.

Olberding, S. D. 1993. A history of Fort Valley, Arizona and its forest experiment station, 1850-1992. M.A. Thesis. Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff.

Olsen, W. C. The Core Historical Literature of Agriculture. <http://chla.library.cornell.edu/> 12/15/2000.

Roberts, P. H. 1963. Hoof prints on forest ranges: The early years of national forest range administration. The Naylor Company, San Antonio, TX.

Whipple, A. 1854. Report of explorations for a railway route, near the thirty-fifth parallel of latitude: from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. House Executive Document 91. 33rd Congress, Second Session, Washington D.C.

White, A. S. 1985. Presettlement regeneration patterns in a southwestern ponderosa pine stand. Ecology 66: 589-594.

Woolsey, T. S. 1911. Western yellow pine in Arizona and New Mexico. Bulletin 101. USDA Forest Service.