VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Pinus edulis | Colorado Pinyon 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
The pinyon-juniper woodlands occupied by Colorado pinyon contain high
volumes of wood fiber.  The wood-producing potential of these areas,
however, has been largely overlooked until recently [9,49].  Wood
products dervived from Colorado pinyon include fuelwood, mine timbers, cross
ties, and charcoal.


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
The seeds, foliage, and phloem of Colorado pinyon are utilized by numerous
wildlife species.  Pinyon nuts are highly nutritious; mammals and birds
that utilize them include pinyon mice, Abert's squirrels, Uinta
chipmunks, woodrats, black bears, bighorn sheep, pinyon jays, Stellar's
jays, Clark's nutcrackers, Stellar's jays, and scrub jays.  Many birds
and small mammals cache pinyon nuts as a winter food supply.  Mule deer
heavily utilize pinyon foliage in winter yarding areas; localized
feeding can result in trees becoming highlined.  Porcupines and other
rodents feed on pinyon phloem [20,37].

Pinyon-juniper woodlands have been used historically as spring and fall
ranges for cattle and livestock.  Although not preferred, cattle will
use pinyon needles.  Consumption of pine needles has been known to cause
abortion in cows; pinyon needles are thought to have the same effect
[37].


PALATABILITY : 
The palatability of Colorado pinyon to livestock and wildlife species in
several western states has been rated as follows [11,37]:

                      AZ        CO       UT        NM        
Cattle               Poor      Poor     Poor      Poor 
Sheep                Poor      Poor     Poor      Poor  
Horses               Poor      Poor     Poor      Poor 
Pronghorn            ----      ----     Fair      ---- 
Elk                  ----      ----     Fair      ---- 
Mule deer            ----      Good     Good      ---- 
Small mammals        Good      Good     Good      Good  
Small nongame birds  Good      Good     Good      Good 
Upland game birds    ----      Good     Good      ---- 
Waterfowl            ----      ----     Poor      ---- 


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
Pine nuts are extremely nutritious and compare favorably with pecans,
peanuts, and walnuts.  Of the pinyons, Colorado pinyon nuts tend to be the
richest in fats.  One pound provides 2,880 calories.  Pine nuts supply
all 20 amino acids and provide significant amounts of vitamin A,
thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin [31].  Comparative nutritional values
are presented below [37].

                  % protein     % fat     % carbohydrate
Colorado pinyons    14         62 - 72        18
Singleleaf pinyons  10           23           54
Pecans              10           73           11
Peanuts             26           39           24
English walnuts     15           68           12

Dittberner and Olson [11] rate Colorado pinyon fair in energy value and poor
in protein value.


COVER VALUE : 
Colorado pinyon provides cover and shelter for numerous birds and animals.
Big game utilize areas where pinyon-juniper woodlands form mosaics with
assoiciated browse species [20].  The degree to which Colorado pinyon
provides environmental protection during one or more seasons for
wildlife species is as follows [11]:
 
	                CO           UT                            
Pronghorn              ----         Good 
Elk                    Fair         Good 
Mule deer              Good         Good
White-tailed deer      Good         ----
Small mammals          Good         Good 
Small nongame birds    Good         Good 
Upland game birds      Poor         Good 
Waterfowl              ----         Poor 


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
NO-ENTRY


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Native Americans used Colorado pinyon for fuel, building materials, and
medicine; the highly nutritious nuts were the mainstay of their winter
diet [37].  White settlers cut pinyons for fence posts, mining timbers,
and railroad ties.  Pinyon charcoal fed the smelters of mining empires.

Today incense is made from crushed cones.  Indians still use the pitch
as a caulking compound for watertight baskets and as a glue for
tourquoise jewelry [21].  The annual harvest of pinyon nuts exceeds 1
million pounds.  This crop is second in commercial value only to pecans
among the uncultivated nuts of the United States [18].  Colorado pinyon
seeds, which are oilier, thinner shelled, and reportedly sweeter than
the seeds of singleleaf pinyon, make up the bulk of the crop.  For the
most part, the food-producing potential of the pinyon woodlands remains
unrecognized.

Carbon dating of fossilized pinyon needles and seeds found in woodrat
middens has been useful in charting the history of plant communities and
the paleoenvironment of the Colorado Plateau and adjacent areas [52].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
On sites where the management objective is to increase forage for
wildlife or livestock, some form of tree removal is necessary.  Grazing
management alone will not reduce the decreases in available forage
brought on by successional trends [1].  Partial control of tree
densities results in little response of the understory vegetation [46]..
Many options to improve productivity on pinyon-juniper woodlands are
rapidly becoming infeasible due to economic constraints.  The
effectiveness of options that rely upon on-site seed sources for the
establishment of desireable species is lessened as succession continues
and understories are largely eliminated. Tree reduction programs have
been drastically reduced in recent years [54].

Currently, prescribed fire and tree harvesting have been advocated as
economically and ecologically sound options for tree elimination.  Both
methods, if applied at the proper successional stage, increase forage
production [14].  Since understory response following disturbance in
pinyon-juniper woodlands is closely linked to the type and number of
residual plants on the site, desired species should be present on the
site prior to treatment.

Reseeding of treated areas is necessary in dense stands where tree
dominance has seriously depleted remanant plants and soil seed reserves.
Floristically impoverished sites with low site potential can remain
stagnant for years.  Type conversions through mechanical treatments are
no longer economically feasible on most sites due to the short life
expectancy of desired results.  Chaining or cabling with debris left on
site will provide increased forage for approximately 20 years; the same
treatment followed in 5 years by prescribed burning to kill missed or
newly germinated seedlings provides increased forage for 50 years
[56,57].

Related categories for Species: Pinus edulis | Colorado Pinyon