Indeed, it is a mystery!

I don’t think there is a means to determine the origin of the spruce trees (genetic or otherwise). The disturbance at the base of each tree suggest both were recently planted. I didn’t mention in the video that I have visited this stand multiple times, including a late summer trip with Lisa Grubisha. We didn’t find Tricholoma populinum on that trip but Lee Taylor, accompanied by John and Erik Hobbie, did find it fruiting this year.

Ohhhh, speculation as to motive and perpetrator – my hunch is it was planted by an employee at either the nearby Slope Mountain DOT or Alyeska’s Pump Station 2. This stand of poplars is within a 10 minute walk of the Haul Road and visible from the road. Treeline is an interesting phenomenon in northern Alaska, especially since one can essentially travel a latitudinal transect driving over Atigun Pass through ‘Gates of the Arctic’ (as Bob Marshall wrote). The trees are present on one side of the Brooks Range and then as one descends from the pass the landscape opens in an expanse of endless tundra to the coastal plain.

Would you ever predict that someone would girdle the posted ‘Farthest North Spruce Tree’ on the Haul Road either?

Thanks for your interest, Ian.

Amy