If you want to see something really different in terms of spruce in the
Rocky Mountains, see the so-called interior rainforest between Jasper NP
and Prince George, British Columbia.  Prince George itself is in boreal
forest that looks like northern MN, with white spruce reaching 80-100
feet, that separates the interior rainforest from the coastal rainforest
by a few hundred miles. Its quite cold in the interior rainforest, and
perhaps it should be called the interior snow forest.

One of the spectacular features of the interior rainforest are
white/Engelmann hybrid spruce that reach heights of 200 feet, at
elevations around 5,000 feet. These are mixed with western red cedar and
western hemlock that are much shorter in stature, although with bigger
diameters than the spruce, up to 7-8 feet dbh.

I was there for a conference at University of northern BC. There were a
fair number of grizzly bears eating plants along the roadsides.  You
need to see it now. They are clearcutting this relatively unknown forest
treasure at a high rate.

Lee

I think the interior rainforest is an orphan. Most of it is on the
Cariboo Mountains, which range from 3,000-6,000 feet, and have rounded
tops, so they don't compare with nearby Jasper as a scenic resource. And
the trees aren't quite as large as in the coastal rainforest. So, it
mostly gets left out of conservation plans.

An article in the Vancouver sun points pout that the interior rainforest
region of the province can make its old growth goals without reserving
any forests over 140 years old. Because most of the region is boreal
forest which burns frequently, 100 years is considered old. Therefore
the interior rainforest with its 1000 year old cedar trees does not have
to be reserved from harvest to meet regional old growth goals. The
article also said they were considering managing 140 acres of interior
rainforest as old growth. I would think a few hundred thousand acres
would be more appropriate. Some researchers at nearby University of
Northern BC have found unique species of lichens in the canopies of the
cedars and 200 foot white spruce.

I was in the field with some local foresters in a stand that was clearly
multi-aged with some trees at least 700 years old by my estimation
(along with 300 and 100 year old cohorts clearly of natural origin), and
they insisted it was an even-aged stand, and that there were no
multi-aged stands in the region, even while standing there looking at it.

Lee