About 20 years ago my grandparents made the move to Sisters,
Oregon. During
one of the first summers after they moved here my family and I took a trip out
to the Pine Mountain observatory to participate in
one of their star gazing events. As we drove out there I remember seeing the
landscape around us ablaze with fire. The road probably was not closed as the
primary vegetative components of this area are grasses, sagebrush, bitter brush
and juniper. While we all had a great time looking through telescopes that
night what I remember the most is the glow from the fire below us. Looking back
I can see how the landscape has changed since that time. While I do not
remember which area in particular burned, I have noticed that over the years
how the juniper have further encroached upon this area. While this, and other
fires, may have provided conditions to assist the juniper encroachment, the
change in fire frequency and intensity that comes with the establishment of
vast swaths of juniper is likely to be one of the greatest contributing factors
affecting junipers success.
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