Crystal's Vanishing Alpine

Lowell-Thanks for sharing these facinating photos! It has opened the doors to some local mountain history. I asked some old time Crystal locals and there's some opinion on what is the basis for reduction of the trees. Some say East Peak had a fire some time in the 20's that eliminated most of the growth. It is said that ranchers would bring their livestock into East peak area hills from Yakima in the summer. Jim Martinson would be a good source to find info (he is a relative of Martinson Gap). Another source is Bob Grub owner of Wapiti Woolies in Greenwater. He knows a lot of history in those hills.<br>Willie Grindstaff told me a story of how he had a military exercise in the 50's where they winter traversed from Corral Pass to Crystal Mountain on a 2 day trip. Willie mentioned that East Peak was just a big old dirt hill back then- sparsely treed. He claims that some of the North back had been logged. But recalls skiing most of Crystal where there were no trees. Like the West face of PickHandle above the Watershed. Which is evident in the photo. He is another great source of information. Willie works at the Crystal Mountain ski school and is a great teacher and gentleman. I enjoy that you share your history findings on TAY.

Indeed the trees do see to be advancing.  At least in the time span that I have been watching them - about 30 years.<br><br>Most of my observations have been mostly from Corral pass where I've hiked, hunted and skied.<br><br>Word has it that the majority of the open space was created by fires (some say say caused by the indians who wanted more berries to pick).  I'm sure a little was due to the sheep that grazed in the area which gave Corral pass its name. <br><br>Martinson senior used to have an interesting photo album showing pictures from his packing days in the area.  It would be interesting to find out if one of his kids still had it.<br>

I can't speak directly to this particular area, but in my day job I get a chance to review many historical aerial photos of our region. One thing I have noticed is a marked increase in vegetation cover throughout many upland and lowland areas. Widespread logging practices early in the 20th century decimated forests, upland and riparian, that have had many years to recover. Its a fairly common understanding, I believe, that we now have much greater tree cover thorughout the entire country than we did 50 years ago.<br><br>This of course could be irrelevent to this particular site. I have a source for aerial photos dating back to 1933 in most locations; but much of the impact pre-dates this.

As a fire ecology student I feel a need to repond. <br><br>All the reasons mentioned here could account for the increase in tree cover. I'm not sure if Juan is correct with the suggestion about logging; my impression is that in the 1950s there was bigger timber to be had in the valley bottoms than in the subalpine. In any case, it would be easy enough (in the summer) to see if the area had been logged (stumps). I'd bet the main reasons for increased tree cover are 1-fire and grazing near the turn of the 20th century and 2-climate change (human-caused or not). Ignoring greenhouse gases and all that, it's well-known among climatologists that cycles like the Pacific Decadal Oscillation explain a lot of variation at the level of 25-70 year cycles (I'm not too clear on the specifics, though).<br><br>All over the PNW, trees have been seen encroaching on former meadows and grasslands. In the dry eastside areas, it's usually because of fire suppression. And in westside areas, especially at higher elevation, climate change and resultant decrease in snowpack is often mostly responsible, although land-use changes in the late 19th and early 20th century (burning, grazing, clearing) still have many lasting legacies.