The West's vast ponderosa pine forest has been home to people for thousands of years. Ponderosa from distant mountains provided timbers for the ancient pueblos of the Southwest. Pioneers on horseback extolled the giant pines and grassy glades of yesterday's forest. Ponderosa timber was used to build Gold Rush-era flumes, sluice boxes, and mine shafts, as well as ties and trestles for the transcontinental railroad.

Ponderosa: People Fire, and the West's Most Iconic Tree documents how that historic forest is mostly gone. Heavy logging and successful fire suppression have transformed the ponderosa forest into one overgrown with smaller trees, shredded by bark beetles and ravaged by wildfires. But this new forest is at great risk, and that is the story of this book. Authors Carl E. Fiedler and Stephen F. Arno recount the history of humans among the ponderosa pines, the historical role of fire, how and why the forest has changed, and what people can do to restore the forest to its former glory.

Ponderosa is designed for people who want to go out and explore the forest as well as learn more about it. A guide at the back of the book features 64 places to find ponderosas scattered across the West, from dwarf pines growing in solid rock to towering trees in moist valleys.