#pinecones — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #pinecones, aggregated by home.social.
-
“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest”*…
Robert Beauchamp, owner of Sierra Cone, one of the largest cone collection contractors in the West, reaches for a red fir cone outside of Dorrington, California. Nina RiggioDillon Osleger explains that, while the future of Western forests depends on professional pinecone collectors, they’re slowly being starved out of existence…
High in the crown of a giant sequoia, the world becomes a cathedral of green and amber, hushed but for the creak of ancient wood and the sharp, rhythmic snap of cones being pulled from boughs. Dan Keeley, 31, moved around with a practiced, fluid economy, suspended by thin lines of high-tensile rope 200 feet above the ground on the western edge of California’s Sequoia National Park. To his left, the sequoia’s cinnamon-colored bark provided a steady presence as he leaned out over the negative space between branches.
“There is a lot of trust that goes into this work,” Keeley said, speaking over the wind. He eyed a cluster of green, egg-sized cones. “Trust in the trees, predominantly, but also trust in the system — that I’m being sent to the right trees, at the right time, and for the right reason, not all of which are always the case.”
Keeley, a lean, tanned former rock climber and arborist, is what some in the forestry industry call a pinecone cowboy, a freelance contractor hired to harvest the genetic future of Western forests. He climbs trees of important or threatened species to collect ripe cones for seeds intended to be used for reforestation.
Keeley is part of a specialized workforce that’s become the primary resistance against the rapid erasure of a Western landscape. As megafires — fueled by climate change and a century of heavy-handed forest management and fire suppression — incinerate millions of acres in the West, natural regeneration is failing. Cones from serotinous species, which open their scales and drop their seeds in response to low-intensity wildfires on the forest floor, are now incinerated in increasingly common crown fires — high-intensity blazes that leap into the canopy. Meanwhile, other species’ seeds, dropped into the soil by wind and animals like squirrels and birds, are choked underneath layers of ash or outcompeted by invasive shrubs. The future of a relationship between trees and wildfires that has existed for 350 million years now rests on the shoulders of rope-suspended climbers who collect the trees’ cones one 45-liter bag at a time…
[The work, which dates back to the 1930s, is both arduous and precise; the workers, dedicated. But, as Osleger explains, a number of forces– main among them, Federal budget cuts, have taken a huge toll on the effort…]
… The result is an annual reforestation shortfall that is compounding and transforming entire ecosystems. The Forest Service produces 30 million to 50 million seedlings a year, according to American Forests, a mere fraction of the 120-million annual seedling goal the REPLANT Act established. Roughly 80% of those seedlings will survive, while it takes about 220 trees to reforest each burned acre. Altogether, the agency meets just 6% of its post-wildfire planting needs annually, according to its 2022 Reforestation Strategy Report.
And that’s just on Forest Service land: Wildfires on both public and private lands have affected, on average, 7.8 million acres a year over the last decade, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. In California alone, current seedling production and planting rates mean that it would take 15 to 20 years to reforest what has already been lost, while each additional fire “puts us further behind,” said Kuldeep Singh, operations manager of seed production for CAL FIRE. While the Forest Service considers a tract reforested after seedlings survive their first five years, research says that a functioning ecosystem like the one the fire destroyed won’t return for several decades.
When a forest fails to regenerate, either because it wasn’t replanted or because new seedlings didn’t survive, it often becomes scrub-land, in a permanent ecological shift known as type conversion. The new brush-based ecosystem creates a more flammable fuel bed that resists the forest’s return, effectively locking the land into a cycle of fire and scrub. In areas like South Lake Tahoe, California, for example, fields of 8-foot-tall manzanita and buckbrush now dominate hundreds of acres where conifers once stood. In Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming and throughout the Southwest, Forest Service research says that high-severity burn areas — which are difficult to regenerate regardless of human intervention — are increasingly repopulated by invasive grasses or the flowering plants called Brassicaceae, which store less carbon and prevent conifers from taking root. This process is permanently altering the hydrology, fire cycle and carbon-sequestration capacity of the West…
More– and more photos– at: “The plight of the pinecone cowboy,” from @highcountrynews.org.
Pair with: “Make Your Own Micro Forest” (“The Miyawaki method of reforestation inserts small, densely packed wild acreage into urban environs. It’s proving wildly successful.”)
* John Muir
###
As we treasure trees, we might recall that it was on this date in 1910 that Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana was established. The park encompasses more than 1 million acres and includes parts of two mountain ranges (sub-ranges of the Rocky Mountains), more than 130 named lakes, more than 1,000 different species of trees and plants, and hundreds of species of animals. Its pristine ecosystem is the centerpiece of what has been referred to as the “Crown of the Continent Ecosystem,” a region of protected land encompassing 16,000 square miles.
The park’s predominantly coniferous forest is home to various species of trees such as the Engelmann spruce, Douglas fir, subalpine fir, limber pine and western larch, which is a deciduous conifer, producing cones but losing its needles each fall.
Mountain goats (the official park symbol) at Logan Pass (source) #culture #forest #forestManagement #forestry #forests #GlacierNationalPark #history #MiyawakiForests #pineconeCowboy #pineconeCowboys #pinecones #politics #Science #trees -
Cute little pine cones in front of people walking on a sidewalk
#photo #photography #plants #winter #snow #cones #pinecones #people #cornell
-
Cute little pine cones in front of people walking on a sidewalk
#photo #photography #plants #winter #snow #cones #pinecones #people #cornell
-
"Northern Exposure"
Teableau 01/15/26My soul abides.
#Tea #PNW #Teableau #TeaCozy #TeaCosy #VintageChina #Handmade #Sewing #HerbalTea #Pinecones #Evergreens #Winter
-
Exploring the 20 Weirdest and Most Amazing Types of Pine Cones
-
-
-
Imagine a pinecone as heavy as a bowling ball and the size of a chihuahua. Believe it or not, such pinecones exist—and they belong to the coulter pine (Pinus coulteri), a conifer that can be found in parts of North America including California and Mexico.
Photo: damontighe, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist
via amnhnyc
-
Winter-themed #bloomscrolling … now I’m singing ‘pinecones and holly berries’ over and over in my head.
#pinecones #evergreens #Christmas #yuletide #winter #nature #NaturePhotography #SolaceInNature
-
#MacroMonday #AlphabetChallenge #WeekXforXmas #ClassicMono This was a Christmas finial decoration on outdoor stairs to a house. It is a ball of pinecones with a base of pine needles. #EastCoastKin #Pinecones #ChristmasDecoration #Macro
-
"Dear, Deer"
Teableau for 11/23/25Starting to get those December feelings.
#Tea #TheHolidays #Teableau #TeaCozy #TeaCosy #BlackTea #Handmade #Sewing #VintageChina #EarlGrey #Figurines #Deer #Pinecones #Sylvan
-
Pinecones
Lens: Tamron 18-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di III-A VC VXD on a Fujifilm X-T30
#cumbria #fujifilm #photography #photographer #pinecones #lakedistrict #tamron #moss #naturephotography #tree #monochrome #blackandwhitephotography
-
Cats will ‘stay clear’ and stop pooing in your garden by scattering 3 fruits they hate https://www.allforgardening.com/1361319/cats-will-stay-clear-and-stop-pooing-in-your-garden-by-scattering-3-fruits-they-hate/ #CatRepellentMethods #cats #CitrusDeterrent #EssentialOils #garden #gardening #PineCones
-
Happy Friday to all you folks inside my phone! I hope you live in a better country than I do when you aren't in my pocket.
Today marked the first day for ripe #thimbleberries!
Also found some #blackberries and some brand new #pinecones during my walk. Pinecones always look mildly ridiculous to me.
I'll be doing a lot of cooking with these blackberries later this summer and would love to try something new with them if anyone cares to share a favored recipe.
-
"Three Pine Cones" by James DeFazio
Prints and much more available at: https://james-defazio.pixels.com/featured/three-pine-cones-james-defazio.html
#texture #pinecones #nature #naturephotography #fineart #fineartphotography #wallart #artwork #art #homedecor #interiordecor #mastoart #BuyIntoArt #ayearforart
-
My spruce in the snow!
-
"Lots More Pine Needles To Pick Up" teableau for 09/12/24
(That was the refrain of my childhood, and my brother's).
If you zoom in, you'll see a tiny jumping spider inside the cup. Serendipity. Dad loved spiders.
It would have been your day, Daddy.#Tea #Teableau #TeaCozy #TeaCosy #BlackTea #VintageChina #PineTrees #PineNeedles #PineCones #PNW #JumpingSpider #MarketSpice #Seattle
-
Good morning 🌲 8am＠JP
あさ8時 🌲 おはようございますThe #WoodlandWednesday, Remember the autumn leaves you found in the forest, red and yellow #fallenleaves, #pinecones... Let's #crochet!🍁🧶
Have a great day!
#森林の水曜日 です
森で見た #紅葉、赤や黄色の #落ち葉、#松ぼっくり を思い出して…#かぎ針編み しませんか🍁🧶すてきな一日を！
#aiart #StableDiffusionXL #autumnleaves #morning #おはよう
#bingimagecreator #bingimagecreater
#絵文字入りプロンプト #PromptWithEmojis -
Hello good peeps….
Sending happy, good vibes to everyone! 🌞💫
✨🍊✨🥰🥰✨🍊✨
{ wish there was a pinecone emoji! }
Here’s another interesting image that happened when I was trying to get something else…..
#Pinecones #GoodVibes #HappySpirit #AI #AIArt
#Bing *and* #DallE2 -
Greetings everybody….
Just published "About Me — StarFire Teja Ray — an introductory letter to my readers” on Medium:
https://medium.com/@tejashankara/about-me-starfire-teja-ray-204891b4cf28
Thank you for clicking in to read the story. {3min read}
May your mind be happy, if not in this moment, then very soon.
✨💫🌞🌲🍂🍄✨💫✨
#Introduction #AboutMe #HappySpirit #MediumWriters #Medium #AI #AIArt #Bing #Trees #Pinecones #Fungi #Stars
-
#Introductions
Hello Mastodon! 🌞
Each morning I ask, "What can I do today to contribute to goodness and happiness in this world?" ✨ To that end, I hope to contribute good vibes on this platform! ✨
#writer #Introduction #plants #trees #birds #crows #stars #fire #nature #astronomy #science #ClimateChange #meditation #yoga #healing #PlantEater #BarefootHiker #MamaBear #BlackCoffee #ChantMusic #HappySpirit #pinecones #Sunshine #RedRocks #mystic #StarFireTribe
✨✨ 🌞 ✨ ✨ -
#December 8, 1935
#OTD Diana Park's Garden Forum (The Pittsburgh Press) shared a suggestion from a young reader:"Have you thought of making a #Sugarplum #Tree out of #Pinecones for #Christmas #Gifts?
Perhaps your #Father could drive you to a place where #Evergreens grow.
Take a #Basket & find plenty of cones to fill it. Get all the sizes you can.Wash the largest cone, paint the tips with #Chocolate #Frosting & stick on rainbow-colored #Gumdrops."
-
#Tigger and #Roo pushed each other about in a friendly way,
and #Kanga said,"Now then, run along.
You can go and collect fir-cones."So they went to the Six #Pine #Trees, and threw #Fir-#Cones at each other until they had #Forgotten what they came for.
~A.A. Milne
#Autumn #Pinecones #Firtrees #Pinetrees #Gardening #Garden #Gardeningpodcast #GardenersofMastodon#GardenLiterature #GardenPoetry #GardenWriter #November #Wintergarden #Nature #Winter #Poem
#FollowFriday #FollowBackFriday
