The Fremont Cottonwood (Populus fremontii S.) pictured above isn't the cottonwood from Michelle's childhood, but she spent many days in Capitol Reef National Park wandering the canyons of what the Diné (Navajo) call the Land of the Sleeping Rainbow.

The valley of Fruita, Utah is home to many Fremont Cottonwoods that light the area with their golden goodness in the autumn months. Cottonwoods are famous for lining the waterways of the arid West providing essential habitat for all kinds of riparian beings. This image demonstrates their powerful presence along the Fremont River. Both images public domain thanks to recreation.gov.

Episode 4 Synopsis - In this episode, Michelle and Emily ask listeners to consider the presence and importance of plants in the region. Wandering among cottonwoods, willows, cholla, ponderosa forests, and even the grocery store, the hosts offer stories of the ways in which plants are present in our daily lives and have long altered the actions of human beings historically. They welcome Boise State University historian John Bieter and University of Arizona history major Gabby Vanover both of whom explain how trees provide vital information about the past that we can use to think about the future. Even if you don't have a green thumb (like Emily), you will appreciate all the power plants exert now and in the past.

Postscript. Click here to listen to our Postscript on the sources that most inspired the stories we share in this episode.

meme via: San Jose State University Writing center

Links and Citations for Learning MORE THAN you already know!

Red Willow photos by Michelle K. Berry.

• Willows, like the red willow (Salix laevigata) in a riparian area near Taos pictured above, have long been known by Indigenous peoples of the region for their powerful medicine. Taos News has an excellent article about the power of the red willow in current culture and practices especially at places like the Red Willow Center on the Taos Pueblo. Below is a video of Navajo Geobotonist Arnold Clifford sharing information about two species of willows. The video was created as part of the Native Memory Project.

• Tree rings, like the ones pictured below, are a kind of archive. To learn more about tree ring science and the Laboratory of Tree Ring Research at the University of Arizona where our guest Gabby works, click here.

  

  Photo by Flickr Creative Commons user Amanda Tromley via NASA Website

  Wondering what an arborglyph looks like? Here is an example-->

  And here is a wonderful article in The Conversation by our guest John Bieter.

  And you can see the Boise State collection online here!

  

  Photo of Basque Arborglyphs by John Merill, 2010, Idaho Basque Arborglyphs Collection, Special Collections and Archives, Albertsons Library, Boise State University

  Plants drive history. Nothing more supports that argument than the efforts of Experimental Range scientists' efforts during the 20th century to plant and then control non-native grasses in order to stop erosion and increase forage for cattle. The Santa Rita Experimental Range (SRER) in southern Arizona has created an archive of these efforts that houses fascinating reports and photos of plants supporting and flummoxing the efforts of human caretakers. Below is a photo of the memo from S. Clark Martin at the SRER in 1944 bemoaning the power of the cholla to deny human attempts at control and "management".

  

• Fire is generally fueled by plants. Some ecosystems are fire adapted. Some are not. Invasive grasses like buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare - once planted intentionally to increase forage) is particularly noxious and dangerous especially for the mighty and not fire adapted Saguaro cactus. Other species, like the ponderosa pine, are mostly fire resistant and even require fire to survive.

  

  Image created by the Southwest Vegetation Management Association.

  

  The Mercer Fire scorches saguaros in the Santa Catalina Mountains. The lightning-sparked blaze was primarily fueled by buffelgrass.

  Photo by David Rankin.

Speaking of wildfire - Smokey Bear's story is worth learning! Check out these sources: the Story of Smokey; Smithsonian Institution Archives exhibit on Smokey. A PR poster from 1957 is pictured below.

Thank you for tuning in and for wanting to learn MORE THAN you did before!

Join us for the next episode where we hop fences and chew the cud. Episode 5 focuses on elk, cattle, and bison - interlopers that defy boundaries and demand rethinking concepts like nature and culture.