A visit to Oak Creek Colorado with Johnny Lang

Johnny Lang, from Mogul Creek Farms, in Kent, Ohio, brought Farm and Dairy to Oak Creek Colorado recently to visit Will Wiesman, one of his former students. Wiesman is a forestry technician for the U.S. Forest Service. Using Alpine and Nordic skis, the two were able to study the Subalpine Forest, which is 9,000 to 12,000 feet above sea level and is dominated by Engelmann spruce and Subalpine fir. These trees form colonies, like tree islands known as the Ribbon Forest. Wiesman showed Lang that tree germination materializes on the leeward side of these tree islands and can be enhanced by snowdrift, thus creating change to the size of the ribbon; likewise, the windward side dies back over time due to heavy prevailing winds. Viewed from above by satellite, the ribbons resemble tiger stripes. (Submitted photo)