STEWARDSHIP

DAR’s Penny Pine Forest

What a penny can do in the hands of women

Colorado’s Penny Pine Forest commemorative marker. Author’s photo.

Words, metal, stone. A commemoration from a forgotten time. An act of service, still living. Old and yet young.

I had found the Penny Pine Forest.

The discovery was the culmination of a two-year search. I had climbed a 13,000-ft mountain, spent hours with Google satellite imagery, and analyzed less-than-helpful emails. But I found it.

Curious about what it all means? I was too.

AI disclosure: The writing and photography in this piece are my own. I used AI to dig up some fascinating history.

Penny pine what?

The Penny Pine Forest is a story of a group of dedicated (some might say stodgy) women in crazy regalia replanting millions of acres of forest. It’s a feat largely forgotten, but no less significant for its long-term impact on our public lands.

In the late thirties, our forests were decimated. Logging, fires, and indifferent management took their toll.

The President General of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) decided to do something about it. The society partnered with the U.S. Forest Service to replant millions of acres — at one penny per tree, across the nation. Colorado benefited from this national project.

There are sixty-one acres of reforested land in Colorado. It cost $30,500.

Stodgy, you say?

The DAR is stodgy, yes. It has been around since 1890. But it’s rude to ask a lady her age. I should know; I’m a member. I like to think that I have a few years before the label stodgy fits, but I am close, very close indeed.

The DAR is a women’s service organization. All of its members can trace their lineage back to someone who supported the American Revolution. As a body, it is fanatical in its service to the country.

The DAR website describes itself this way:

“Founded in 1890 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., DAR is dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history, and securing America’s future through better education for children.

DAR members volunteer millions of service hours annually in their local communities, including supporting active duty military personnel and assisting veteran patients, awarding thousands of dollars in scholarships and financial aid each year to students, and supporting schools for underserved children with annual donations exceeding one million dollars.”

In the case of the Penny Pine Forest, they really went to town.

On the slope of Mt. Flora. Could that trail on the opposite hill be the spot? Author’s photo.

The quest

A few years ago, I heard about the Penny Pine Forest and was determined to find its location in Colorado.

I asked around. There was some corporate knowledge on the subject, but nothing close to a lat/long. A few emails narrowed down the location to somewhere along Highway 40 near Berthoud Pass, west of Denver.

A clue, but that’s it.

I then scoured Google Maps, looking for anything like a marker. I poked around on AllTrails, which contains a library of user-submitted photos. This narrowed the hunt down to a couple of spots.

Then fortune struck. I was climbing Mt. Flora (13,146 ft) when, from its flanks, I could see several trails heading up the hillside across Highway 40. One of these had to be it. Back to Google, and my quest was narrowed down to two trailheads.

Time to hit the road.

I drove up the pass and started looking. The first trailhead led to a beautiful backcountry hut. I talked to several hikers, but no one coming down had seen any marker. Next, I drove down several hairpin turns to what I thought was a trailhead.

It was a dead-end dirt pull-out that had once been a rest area, complete with charming, now rotting, picnic tables nestled in the woods.

There it was, my Eldorado.

I bushwhacked to the marker. I could tell there used to be a bridge across the creek to get to it. Fortunately, it only took a few wacks through shrubbery to get to the boulder from a different direction.

The marker was in great shape, and the setting was sublime. I breathed in the electric mountain air and reached out to touch the metal. Then I wandered upstream into the forest, history following me with every step.

A stand of Engleman Spruce, Colorado. Author’s photo.

Engleman Spruce

The pines planted in Colorado are Engelmann Spruce (Picea engelmannii). These majestic trees take 150 years to reach their full height, and can live to be 400 to 600 years old.

They thrive between 9,000 and 11,000 feet and look like giant Christmas trees, conical and majestic. They form huge carpets of greenery, particularly along north-facing aspects.

The trees planted with the help of the DAR are just babies. Talk about long-term impact.

Looking at the boulder from the other side. That is Mt. Flora in the distance.

The laurels belong to time

As I write this, Colorado is ablaze with at least five major wildfires. Our forests are under threat, yet again. Drought and disease are this century’s plague.

Conservation will always be necessary. I am grateful to a group of women who, before WWII, saw fit to appreciate FOREST, those mystical, blessed trees. The spirit of those stodgy ladies lives on in every bough, every branch. Thank you. Thank all of you.