Douglas
Fir is one of the most widely distributed trees on the
Helena National Forest. Douglas fir forests can range from
lower elevations where they often are large, old and open
grown stands, to upper elevation forests in mixtures with
lodgepole pine
The tree grows well in the shade and is tolerant.
Douglas fir is also a ”climax” tree which means
it is the most shade tolerant tree that can live on the site.
They are able to regenerate is the shade of mature forests.
Due to fire suppression, Douglas fir is spreading
into many lower elevation grasslands.
Douglas fir grows under a wide variety of
climatic conditions in the western United States. It can be
found from the costal rain forests to the cold and dry Rocky
Mountains. Like ponderosa pine, the species became differentiated
into sub-species by the last ice age as one population survived
on the west coast and the other in the southern Rocky Mountains
The needles
of Douglas fir are about ¾ inch in length and occur
as single needles. A good way to identify Douglas fir is to
look at the tree buds at the tip of the branch. They are brownish
gold, scaled and conical. The cones
of Douglas fir are about 3 inches long and somewhat oblong
shaped.
The bark
on young trees is smooth and gray with some resin blisters.
In older trees the bark is thick and furrowed and reddish-brown
Douglas fir forests are extremely valuable
because they provide a variety of resources including timber
production, water quality and yield, wildlife habitat, grazing
and recreation.
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