Mogollon Keystone Forest
Stretching from Flagstaff, Arizona almost to the Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico, the Mogollon Keystone Forest marks the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau where it meets the great Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts. It is part of the larger Arizona Mountains forests ecoregion. The prominent feature is a long escarpment, known as the Mogollon Rim, that extends for several hundred miles, with an average elevation of 7,000 feet.
The Mogollon Keystone Forest is best characterized by its vast stands of Ponderosa pine, the largest of its kind in the United States, but also is marked by the pinyon-juniper ecosystem of the upper deserts to the high elevation spruce fir forests. …
Critical to the wildlife and human populations of this arid region are its rivers; the most notable being the Gila, Verde, San Francisco and Blue. The Wild and Scenic Verde River is the only river in this keystone forest are a that has this status. However several other rivers, including the San Francisco, are strong candidates. Wilderness areas along the Mogollon Country include San Francisco Peaks, Matazal, Mount Baldy and Blue Wallow, Gila-Aldo Leopold Complex and Blue River Primitive Area. These protected areas are considered biological hotspots.
America’s Keystone Forests: A Map for Moving Forward
The U.S. Forest Service will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2005….