The Pygmy Conifer Forests of the Four Corners
The Pinyon Pine-Juniper Forest: stunted trees in the high deserts of the Four Corners - Issue # 26
From giant redwoods through much smaller, but still tall Ponderosa pines, we arrived to their shortest cousins, the pinyon pines and junipers over this summer. As much as I admire the tall evergreens, I feel more of a kinship to these stunted ones. In the world of people, I am as short as they are in their world of conifers.
As stunted as they are, these pygmy conifers are just as important as their giant cousins.
Dear Reader!
I hope you are not tired of me talking about trees, since they are the protagonists of this post, as well. Also, thank you all for liking and interacting with my previous posts. My tree-based posts are currently the most popular, which makes me so happy - and encourages me to keep going with the theme.
Anyway, our latest camping trip took us to the Navajo National Monument, gateway to the ruins of Betatakin (Talastima) and Keet Seel (Kawestima).
We first camped there thirty-two years ago, during our first trip to Arizona, when we also took the guided tour to the ruins. We were the only campers at the site that time.
Now, the campground was almost full, even though there were no tours to the ruins. (They only have them on weekends now.)
Campers seem to have learned about the beauty and tranquility of this campground so far from the beaten track.
Even with most of the sites full, the campground in the pinyon-juniper forest was quiet. And as much as we enjoyed camping at Sunset Crater and the Grand Canyon, this was our favorite this season.
As we were driving through the Navajo Nation, we kept seeing people stopped in the pinyon-juniper forests, collecting something. It took me a while to realize they were picking pinyon nuts.
Pinyon nuts are edible and tasty, but they are not easy to harvest, which is why they are so expensive. I like to use them in cooking, but I always buy it. As long as I’ve lived in the Southwest, I’ve never seen anyone harvesting them. I didn’t know how they grow.
Now, since we were in an area of pinyon abundance - and it was harvest time - I got to see how they develop inside the pine cone of the pinyon tree. Left there long enough, the tiny nut’s outer layer darkens, loosens from its cone, and eventually falls. Wind and birds carry them off and new pinyon pine trees grow from some. Others become food for all sorts of creatures, including humans.
Picking them is not an easy task, though; the pine cone is filled with sticky sap-like substance called pinyon pitch, with a wonderful pine aroma.
I didn’t mind getting it on my fingers, since the pine scent lingered on long after I got the stickiness off, but the tiny nuts were stuck in the cones, hard to pick out. Later I found that some of the darker seeds - these nuts are actually seeds - would fall off almost by themselves.
However, the hard outer shell wasn’t easy to pry off the seeds. And only after breaking this brown thick layer, I found the white, soft nut I know from my kitchen.
The tree itself is short, and I feel a kinship with it - being a short person. But the pinyon pine doesn’t stand alone. Teaming up with junipers of the same height, they form a unique forest.
Pinyon-juniper woodlands are common in the Four Corners region, in mid-elevations of the arid regions. They live in regions with temperature extremes and limited moisture, and cover about 15% of the land area of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah (Four Corners), and Nevada.
We noticed - and then my readings confirmed it - that on lower elevations junipers dominate and trees are farther apart. As elevation increases, the number of pinyon pines increase, and the forest becomes thicker.
In our campground at the Navajo National Monument, they grew closely together. And, in September, they offered a beautiful combination, both showcasing their seeds, the gorgeous blue of the juniper berries and the nut-filled pinecones of the pinyons.
Despite being stunted and providing little shade, the juniper-pinyon forests provide plenty of resources and ecosystem services, from wildlife habitat to watershed protection, and pinyon nuts. Not to mention their simple beauty.
The first time I’ve been in a pinyon-juniper forest was in Sedona, when we visited Arizona, before living here. I remember being intrigued by these short, bushy conifers, but also annoyed by the lack of shade they provided during my mid-day hike.
I also realized over the years though that they do provide shade - at the right time. Not as much as taller trees, but enough to make a stay among them enjoyable.
And they grow in some of the most beautiful landscapes, letting the earth’s shapes and color dominate. Sedona is known for its red rock formations, the surrounding juniper-pinyon forest acts as a backdrop to help showcase these rocks.
It is the same everywhere they grow. In our campsite, they offered some shade and a nice backdrop for the canyon where the ruins are. They are too short to hide the ancient cities. Instead, they complement them, balancing the color of the orange-red rocks housing the ruins with their soft green.
Rather than taking the center stage, they remain in the background everywhere they grow, offering support to their surrounding environments.
People of the Four Corners region, including the Diné, Hopi, Paiute, Ute, among others, have used pinyon and juniper forests for food, medicine, firewood, and construction.
Pine nuts have been a staple for Native people of the Southwest for thousands of years. Historically, they ate the raw nuts, ground them into a pine nut flour, made pine nut butter, or used them in soups. They still use them the same way today.
They also use the bluish juniper berries baked in bread, steeped in tea, stewed with meats, raw, or roasted.
Pinyon and juniper trees are part of their natural pharmacy.
Traditionally, they use juniper berries to cure influenza, fight dandruff, treat indigestion, and soothe aches and pains. They use juniper leaves brewed into a tea to induce pregnancy.
They also use the pinyon pitch in salves for open cuts and sunburns, and ground into powder as an antiseptic for wounds, or to fill cavities in aching teeth.
Wood from pinyon and juniper trees is strong enough to use as building material for fences, corrals, cradles, agricultural equipment, and roofs. Other uses for smaller pieces of wood include making household tools, like ladles and hairbrushes, and weapons, like bows.
Juniper seeds are the perfect beads for jewelry, and the berries stain pottery. The sap-like sticky pinyon pitch is great for waterproofing objects like canoes and pottery. It also helps cement turquoise and other gems into jewelry.
The importance of pinyon and juniper woodlands extends farther than offering food, shelter, and medicine for the traditional Native people of the area. They support an ecosystem with a variety of animals, like antelope, elk, deer, turkey, rabbit, quail, and pigeon, among others.
Pinyon and juniper forests might seem insignificant, but they play an important role in the culture and traditions of Native peoples, the future existence of key wildlife and plant species, and ultimately, the health of our planet.
Thank you for reading Letters from a Wanderer! I hope you enjoy pinyon and juniper forests if you ever wander through them.
Happy travels and all the best,
Emese
If you like my posts, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. All posts are free to read, however, a paid subscription would help the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center, since I will be donating all proceeds to them.
If you enjoyed this post and would like to show your appreciation for it alone, you can also buy me a (virtual) coffee.
