PRINEVILLE- Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) are perhaps best known for the beautiful hues of yellow and gold that the leaves take on during the fall season.

However, foresters say that quaking aspen stands are slowly, and surely, diminishing. Since settlement times, aspen-dominated lands in the West have decreased by approximately 9.6 million acres.

Forest Service land managers have identified methods for treating the aspen stands with the hope that some can be restored, not only for future generations to enjoy but also for increased health and diversity and benefit to the ecosystem. Various methods, such as controlled burning, cutting and fencing, can be used to enhance the aspens’ survival.

One such effort to treat and restore an aspen stand is on the Ochoco National Forest’s Paulina Ranger District in Grant County. A perennial tributary of Sunflower Creek runs through the project area. The stand consists of a small number of mature trees with numerous aspen sprouts interspersed throughout.

The aspen sprouts have been heavily browsed and damaged, primarily by wildlife. Approximately 500-700 elk, along with mule deer, antelope and a variety of other wildlife, utilize the greater Sunflower drainage as habitat.

The aspen restoration project at Sunflower will protect and enhance 15 acres of aspen habitat in two aspen stands utilizing buck and pole fence exclosures.

Buck and pole fences are ideal for aspen restoration because once constructed, they require very little maintenance and can last for about 10 years, enough time for aspen sprouts to establish and grow above browse height.

Partners working with the Forest Service to complete the aspen restoration project include the Oregon Hunters Association, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the National Wild Turkey Federation, and the Training and Employment Consortium and YCC of Grant County.

“We are very fortunate to be working with partnering organizations who are generous of their time and funding. The district is looking forward to a successful outcome of this restoration project,” said Acting Paulina District Ranger Slater Turner.

Aspen restoration is important for more than aesthetic values, officials said. Aspens also are valuable in providing for landscape and biological diversity, sites for recreational opportunities, watershed protection and key habitat for wildlife. Mature aspen form a key habitat component for elk and a multitude of other wildlife including forest grouse, mule deer, woodpeckers, small mammals, song birds/migratory birds and raptors.

A variety of factors have contributed to the decline of aspen, such as a lack of periodic “cool” ground fire, and the browsing of young trees by deer, elk and livestock grazing. Given the current contributing factors to the aspen’s decline, it is predicted that most aspen stands will eventually be replaced by conifers, sagebrush or other tall shrub plant communities.