Colorado Statewide Forest Resource Assessment

III. Overview of Colorado’s Forests 7With its diverse mix of coniferous and deciduous species, Colorado’s forestedlandscape is, perhaps, one of the most complex of any in the IntermountainWest. The basis for this vegetation mosaic is a physical landscape thatranges from plains and high plateaus to steep mountains, deep canyons andsloping foothills. A wide range of topographic, soil and growing conditionsfurther infl uences this variety and contributes to the state’s multi-faceted forestresources.Responsibility for the stewardship of approximately two-thirds of Colorado’sforests lies primarily with federal land management agencies. Privateand other non-federal landowners control one-third of the state’s forests.Historically, human use of the forest has been constant, ranging fromsubsistence gathering to harvesting for mining and railroad industries, andmanagement for wildlife habitat, drinking water and recreation. Growingpopulations, urban development and climate change pose new anddemanding challenges for today’s forest managers.Colorado’s Forest TypesForests and woodlands cover 24.4 million acres in Colorado. 8 Within theseforested landscapes are several different tree species, the majority of whichare coniferous or cone-bearing trees rather than deciduous trees thatseasonally shed their leaves. For the purposes of this report, Colorado’sprimary forest species have been grouped into nine forest types described onthe following pages, which are based on the dominant overstory vegetation(Helm 1998). The distribution of these forest types across the landscape isdetermined by factors such as climate, soil, elevation, aspect and disturbancehistory (Rogers et al. 2000). In terms of overall acreage across the state, thelargest forest types in Colorado are aspen (21 percent), piñon-juniper (21percent) and spruce-fi r (19 percent). The mixed-conifer and oak shrublandtypes account for 10 percent each, followed by ponderosa pine (8 percent)and lodgepole pine (7 percent). Montane riparian (4 percent) and plainsriparian (1 percent) represent the smallest forested acreages.7Much of the information contained in this section is adapted from the annual forest health reports produced by theColorado State Forest Service, particularly the 2001 Report on the Condition of Colorado’s Forests. The 2001-2008reports are available online at http://csfs.colostate.edu/pages/pub-csfs2.html.8This number and the statistics that follow are based on the definition of forest vegetation that was established for thisreport, which includes piñon-juniper, oak shrublands and riparian forests, in addition to more traditional forest types. Allanalyses regarding these vegetation types are based on LANDFIRE vegetation data as described in Appendix B – DataMethods and Sources available at http://csfs.colostate.edu/pages/statewide-forest-assessment.html6