Wildfire Ponderosa Pines

The 2012 Fire Season has started east of the Cascade Range in the Pacific NW. Here flames of a wildfire burn at the base of a Ponderosa Pine. Mature Ponderosa Pines are rarely affected by wildfire due to the thick bark surrounding their bole. Their needle cast encourages low intensity fires to burn beneath the mature trees eliminating brush and other competitive tree growth leading to a veranda like forest of these towering trees in their natural environment.