Dendrochronological Analysis of Cottonwoods at Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site
Lukas J, Woodhouse C, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), University of Colorado-Boulder. 2006. Dendrochronological Analysis of Cottonwoods at Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site. Boulder, CO
Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site (BEOL), in southeastern Colorado, has riparian cottonwood forests with significant resource values. In March 2002, a fire burned about 200 ha at BEOL, including a portion of the riparian forest along the Arkansas River. Park personnel noted that some of the dead trees appeared to have fire scars. Photos of these trees sent to us by Fran Pannebaker did appear to show fire scars. At our direction, NPS personnel cut six cross-sections, across the scars, from five trees. The orientation of the tree when standing was marked on the cross-section. The dating of these scars would add to the knowledge of the area’s fire history for BEOL’s Fire Management Plan and perhaps impact the use of fire as a management tool. Park personnel also wanted us to sample several large cottonwoods in the riparian forest to get a better sense of the ages of the larger trees at BEOL. This work was done concurrently with a larger project, “Riparian Forest Age Structure and Hydroclimatic Variability, Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site”. BEOL is approximately 100 km southwest of Sand Creek Massacre NHS (SAND).