Broadleaf Forests of the West

Broadleaf forests of the West fall into eight broad classes scattered over half of the continent: trembling aspen that appears in groups or clones, tanoak and Pacific madrone that underlie Douglas-fir in a two-storied canopy, oaks of many species and many ages that develop in open woodland and dry savannas, red alder that initiates ecological succession where glaciers have receded, cottonwoods and willows along stream courses, the several mesquite species that are western extensions of the type found in Texas and Oklahoma, boreal stands of several species that cover vast areas, and chaparral of pyric explosiveness in areas too dry for commercially valuable forests. Broadleaf forests supplied logs for pioneers in much of the vast open ranges of the West where conifers were not available. Housing, fencing, and fuels came from the hardwood stands covering the dry savannas or riparian banks.