Alaska's Gift--The Pine

Pines no longer grow over most of Alaska, but there is evidence that the area of Alaska and the Bering Sea was the center of development of pines about 260 million years ago. From this point pines spread all over the Northern Hemisphere and even crossed the equator.

Throughout the long history of pines land masses submerged, rose again, and united to form bridges. Climates changed and deserts or ice fields were formed where pines had lived before. During the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods (181-72 million years ago) pines were migrating from the North American-northern Asia area and southward on both sides of the Pacific, westward in Siberia, and eastward in North America, eventually to Greenland and western Europe. The recent Quaternary glaciation destroyed all pine species in the northern part of the hemisphere. Lodgepole pine survived in places not covered with ice, and after the ice retreated the pine became a pioneer in reestablishing the forests in northwestern Canada and southeastern Alaska.

There are over one hundred species of pines in the world. Pines are conifers, closely related to spruce and are characterized by the needles occurring in clusters of two or more where the needles of spruce occur singly. Pines are conspicuous trees forming extensive forests or occurring mixed with broadleaf trees. Pines are useful; man has known them from time immemorial. He cut them for fuel, and he extracted resin from them. He burned them to clear the land for agriculture, and he planted them for shelter belts. Pines are beautiful; their decorative value is seen in old Chinese paintings, and their branches were used in festivals of ancient peoples. Pine incense was used in religious ceremonies by the Aztecs, the Mayas, and the Romans. Pines were mentioned in Greek mythology. Greek scholars knew a great deal about pines, for these trees occupied a prominent place in the landscape. The oldest known living organism is a bristlecone pine found in California--it is over 5,000 years old. This Alaskan export has done well in the world.