 Quaking aspen. Thin white bark, yellow in the fall, leaves that tremble in the slightest of breeze. That gives it its Latin name, populous tremuloides. Tremuloides! We like them. Unfortunately across the west our aspen stands are on the decline. It's because we have vigorously fought wildfires for decades. Protect conifers from fire for a long time and they outcompete aspen. Fire rejuvenates aspen stands because of their unique ecology. Take a look at a prescribed burn here near Soda Lake in Sublet County. The aspen trees that we see are only a portion of the living organism. In fact aspen clones are the largest organisms in the world. The aspen's competitor is the conifer forest. A stand of conifers is hundreds of single plants. Run a fire through an aspen conifer stand and you'll kill the conifers and terminate the above-ground parts of the aspen organism. The aspen organism's root system however shoots up thousands of new shoots. BAM! Meanwhile the conifers have to start from seed. The way fire interacts with differences in plant ecology. That is why fire is a good thing for an aspen clone which is being strangled by conifers. From the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service, I'm Eric Peterson.