US Edition2 Reasons the American West's Most Iconic Tree Is Disappearing
Since 2000, over 200 million ponderosa pines have died due to wildfire suppression and climate-driven drought, threatening long-term forest loss and ecosystem shifts, experts warn.
- On December 9, 2025, reports show more than 200 million ponderosa pine have died across a thousand-mile arc from Santa Fe to the central Sierra in the American West.
- Fire suppression and climate stress have combined to create overcrowded stands with massive 'fuel loads', while climate change weakens trees and increases deaths from insects, disease, and fires.
- But treatment falls far short of need as about 300 million acres carry excessive fuel loads while prescribed-burn teams treat only about 10% and replanting efforts cover roughly 3% annually.
- Water and species impacts include accelerated spring snowmelt reducing water for streams, rivers and aquifers amid drought, while many forests shift to grass and shrubland conversion for centuries.
- Some ecologists warn that over 90% of Southwestern ponderosa could vanish in decades, risking the first post-climate-change American landscape, as forests decline since December 9, 2025.
28 Articles
28 Articles
The American West's most iconic tree is disappearing
A profound unraveling is underway in the American Southwest, happening across a thousand-mile arc from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to the central Sierra. In an unprecedented calamity, the most widely distributed, most iconic tree of the region—the beautiful ponderosa pine—is disappearing. So significant is this loss, both visually and ecologically, that it's reasonably fair to say it may be triggering the first post-climate-change landscape in America.
The American West’s most iconic tree is disappearing
A profound unraveling is underway in the American Southwest, happening across a thousand-mile arc from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to the central Sierra. In an unprecedented calamity, the most widely distributed, most iconic tree of the region — the beautiful…
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