Lodge Pole Pines

Majestic Lodge Poles once blanketed the Rocky Mountains. I have painted them as the fire-prone tinder they’ve become. Climate change and warmer winters have allowed beetles to infest and reduce the forests that in the 1800s supplied the nation’s railroad ties. Today, Lodge Poles still provide lumber to our industries and products, and cover to elk, black bear, and other species. But their numbers are dwindling, and their condition is fragile.