LAND WATER AND PEOPLE EARLY USES OF TREES BY

 NITROGEN AND PHOSPHORUS DELIVERY FROM SMALL WATERSHEDS TO
DISTRICT NAME SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT ADDRESS PHONE
4 FYNS AMT NATURE MANAGEMENT AND WATER

ANNUAL DRINKING WATER QUALITY REPORT FOR 2018 WESTFIELD
COLD WATER IMMERSION BY JOHN BROWNING COLD WATER
CONCESSION APPLICATION FORM 4B –GUIDINGTOURISMRECREATION WATER CRAFT ACTIVITIES

Wood, an important and valuable natural resource

Land, Water and People


Early Uses of Trees


By Laura Garcia
“Without natural resources life itself is impossible. From birth to death, natural resources, transformed for human use, feed, clothe, shelter, and transport us. Upon them we depend for every material necessity, comfort, convenience, and protection in our lives. Without abundant resources prosperity is out of reach.” -Gifford Pinchot

The words of Pinchot, the first chief of United States Forest Service, resonate through our present day society and we do well to ponder the importance of natural resources in our lives. One of the many valuable resources in our lives is wood. Wood usage dates far back to early humans.

This article is the first of a three part series that will discuss forest management and the use of wood through three periods of time: the early, middle and late hunter-gatherer eras, early European settlement and modern times.

Approximately 11,200 years ago, the Paleo-Indian of the Clovis Complex and Folsom Complex cultures, seasonally occupied what is now the San Luis Valley. They were a nomadic people and were drawn to the area because of good hunting. They hunted big game such as the mammoths, bison, camels and turtles using hunting spears, along with the atlatl. An atlatl is a spear thrower, made from wood, which increased the velocity and accuracy of the spear.

The cultures used wood for a variety of purposes. They used wooden spears that had fluted points of varying sizes to hunt. The points, or darts themselves, were held on the spear with a dart shaft made of wood. Other uses for wood included fire-making and fire-making equipment, digging sticks, hunting clubs, pegs, stakes, and components of traps and snares. Shelters were made of skins supported by wood poles or branches.

As time went on, several different cultures arose. Around 7,500 years ago, the Archaic culture also used atlatls for hunting. Their shelters were sometimes caves and rock shelters and at other times, wooden posts covered with reed mats. Axes were made from wood and stone, which were then used to cut and shape wood. The Archaic people may have used some form of a boat; which might have been a carved dugout canoe from a tree trunk. There was a definite movement toward the use of plant material; the women gathered seeds, nuts and other materials from plants and trees.
The early Prehistoric era, about 2,900 years ago, gave rise to the bow and arrow. Shelters were built using a wooden pole framework and then covering the framework with woven mats.

Stone structure sites are found in the San Luis Valley that date back to 900 A. D. These structure may have had a wooden superstructure atop the stone foundations.

Around 1,300 A. D., Ute and Jicarilla Apache bands inhabited the valley. Their shelters, called wickiups, were made from branches that were either free standing or supported by lying against a tree. These early inhabitants were also known to use the cambium (the layer directly under the bark) of the ponderosa pine for food, medicine or possibly, cradle boards. The carving of the cambium did not kill the tree because it was removed from only one side. Some of these living artifacts or culturally modified trees can still be found on the Rio Grande National Forest.

“Without natural resources life itself is impossible,” Pinchot said. The very fact that historic cultures used nothing but natural resources is testimony to Pinchot’s words. From history, we also know that the ancestors of the land revered nature and were thankful for what it provided.

Many things have changed since these early times of human history, but one thing must remain-our respect for natural resources. Our modern day society still uses trees and wood for many purposes. If we are to continue using these natural resources, we must follow the important lessons of the early inhabitants of this continent and use them wisely.

The next article in this series will discuss forest management and the use of trees in the period that began with European settlement in the land now called America.


Laura Garcia is a Public Affairs Intern at the San Luis Valley Public Lands Center. She is a native of the San Luis Valley and loves making others laugh.


GP9P 22 SVQ IN NETWORK CONSTRUCTION OPERATIONS (WATER)
Npdes Storm Water Construction Compliance Inspection Report (for
POWERPLUSWATERMARKOBJECT3 PUBLIC HEALTH WALES UNSCHEDULED CARE


Tags: early uses, the early, people, trees, early, water