A healthy grove of aspen in late fall near Mancos, Colo., showcases its fall foliage. When the wind comes up, the trees are known as quaking aspen.
This year’s autumn months in the Western part of the country have not been a healthy period for aspen trees. In a half-dozen states entire aspen groves have died, and forestry officials don’t know why.
“It’s a phenomenon we don’t really understand,” said Wayne Shepperd, a U.S. Forest Service research forester at the Rocky Mountain Research Station in Fort Collins, Colo. “It’s a rapid dying of the mature aspen trees that could be related to a number of factors. The thing that has me concerned is that in some cases the roots are dying and aspen in the West reproduces almost exclusively by root suckering. That’s a real concern because if the roots die, there are no new sprouts or suckers there in the understory. Then the aspen on that site are going to be gone.”
Shepperd has worked with aspen since the late
60 Grit
Rough humor by Steve Spiro
1970s and is baffled by the dieback. He is hoping to put together a task force this winter to adopt a strategy and seek some funding to go after the problem.
“There is a general decline of aspen around the West because it is reaching maturity or over-maturity, and it is tied to the lack of fire disturbance that has resulted in a lot of changes in our forest landscapes,” Shepperd said. “Aspen usually is regenerated when you get a stand replacement fire that kills a conifer canopy and the aspen sprouts right back up and will dominate the site for quite some time.”
The affected area runs from border to border, says Shepperd. “It’s been reported down in Arizona, all the way up through Colorado,
Wyoming, Montana — and the Canadians have reported it as well in Alberta,” he said. “Also the Great Basin states such as Utah,
Nevada and Idaho.”
The aspen dieback may be caused by other suspects, such as insects, drought or overgrazing animals. But at this point, scientists don’t really know the cause.
— Brian Caldwell
The female founders of Tomboy Tools, a tool sales company designed to specifically help women with their home-improvement needs by offering them smaller, ergonomic tools, vowed never to make any pink tools. They wanted to stay clear of obvious stereotypes in the working world regarding female tool users.
That changed in August, however, when the company launched its “Pink for a Purpose” campaign in conjunction with the Susan G. Komen
Breast Cancer Foundation, where a percentage of proceeds from the sale of pink hammers will be used for researching cures for the disease.
Already the campaign is a success, said Janet Rickstrew, CEO of Tomboy Tools. “We are committed to donating $100,000 to the Komen Foundation. It’s a one-year contract. Our goal is to raise $600,000 — we really believe we can reach that — and that would be selling 100,000 hammers,” said Rickstrew. “We’ve been into the new program three weeks now, and we’re well on our way. I think because it hits home so much, everyone can relate and wants to help.”
Rickstrew and her business partners readily agreed to
do the pink hammer campaign because it is about
awareness, which fits with both the mission of her com-
pany and that of the Komen Foundation.
The pink hammer sells for $14.95.
Tomboy Tools is donating 70 per-
cent of the net profit, which
equates to $6, to the Komen
Foundation.
Phyllis Rossow of Aurora, Col.,
purchased three cases of pink
hammers to sell on her own to co-workers,
friends and family members. She had never
heard of the company before learning about
the campaign from a local television station.
“When I saw it I just thought it was a unique idea for a great cause and thought that’s something I wanted to do. We’ve had a couple of co-workers recently go through breast cancer treatments, and it just inspired me,” Rossow said.
Contact: Tomboy Tools, 3254 Walnut St., Denver, CO 80205. Tel: 866-260-1893. www.tomboytools.com
— Jennifer Hicks
Alex took his new saber saw very seriously.
Tomboy Tools launched its Pink for a Purpose Campaign with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in August and introduced this special edition pink hammer to raise money for the cause.
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