Walk a mixed-conifer or red-fir stand and look up: about one tree in eight is now old growth, with a thick trunk clear of branches for half its height, heavy limbs, and a flat or domed top where the leader broke long ago, some with a bare dead spike. Each stands with more room around it, and the younger trees are spaced off it.
Ponderosa, Jeffrey pine, white fir, red fir and incense cedar all grow old trees, and every one can be felled like its species. A new world shows it best.
