Researchers study how thinning helps stand of old-growth trees

For centuries, fire had been a frequent visitor to the forest floor beneath this 300-year-old larch perched on a side hill far above Missoula’s Grant Creek.

Every couple of decades, fire cleared out the underbrush and most of the young trees trying to get a foothold in what was then a relatively open forest.

For most of its life, this larch lived with relatively few neighbors.

By PERRY BACKUS of the Missoulian

Full Story: http://missoulian.com/articles/2006/10/29/news/local/news02.txt