Scienceline
April 25, 2016
When the first white settlers ventured out onto the rangeland of eastern Oregon, they found open plains with grass and scrubby sagebrush. Willows huddled around meandering creeks while twisted juniper trees clung to rocky remnants of the area’s volcanic past. Fires swept through the plains about once a decade, killing young junipers that dared to venture out into the grassland.
kelsey kennedy 