Red fir

Botanical name

Abies magnifica (California red fir)

Type

Native evergreen true fir

Size

66 to 198 feet tall, trunks to about 8.5 feet across (USDA Forest Service)

Elevation in the Sierra

About 5,940 to 7,920 feet in the northern range; 7,000 to 9,000 feet farther south (USDA Forest Service)

Where it is found

Upper Carson Range and high Tahoe slopes; Kingsbury sits at 7,126 feet

Known weak points

Dwarf mistletoe, annosus root rot, fir engraver, severe fire

Red fir forests sit where winter snowpack runs eight to thirteen feet deep, according to the USDA Forest Service. The tree is shaped for it, with tiered, drooping limbs that shed snow. This page covers identification, where red fir fits in our elevation bands and when pruning or removal is right.

How do you identify a red fir?

The needles are about an inch long, blue-green, and curve upward along the twig, with a pale band on each side. Cones stand upright on the upper branches like candles and fall apart on the tree, so you find bracts and bare spikes rather than whole cones. The bark is thin on young trees, silvery, then turns thick, furrowed and reddish on old ones.

The crown is conical and tidy, with tiered limbs, and the trunk is straight. The Forest Service describes thick, fissured, fire-resistant bark on older trees.

• Short upturned needles
• Upright cones that break up on the tree
• Thick reddish furrowed bark on old trees
• Conical crown with tiered branches

Where does it grow around Lake Tahoe and the Carson Range?

The Forest Service puts red fir at about 5,940 to 7,920 feet in the northern Sierra, usually above white fir and below lodgepole or mountain hemlock. That makes it a high-slope tree: Kingsbury (7,126 feet) is inside the band, and Incline Village (6,437 feet) and the south shore towns at 6,243 to 6,284 feet are inside the northern-Sierra figure, though what grows on a given lot depends on slope and exposure.

It is not a valley tree. Reno and Carson City are at about 4,505 and 4,680 feet, well below its range. Forests of red fir catch most of the basin's snow. Annual precipitation in them is roughly 33 to 64 inches, mostly as snow, according to the Forest Service.

What goes wrong with it here?

The Forest Service lists three major concerns. Fir dwarf mistletoe causes significant damage; see our dwarf mistletoe page. Annosus root rot kills roots and sets trees up to fall; see root and trunk decay. The fir engraver kills the tops, patches or whole trees that are already stressed.

Fire is the other factor. The Forest Service says fires in red fir usually spread slowly and are less intense than at lower elevations and crown fires are uncommon, but large trees die in severe fires and seedlings are easily killed. Dead red firs are brittle, so a dead one over a roof can come down without warning.

Pruning, cabling or removal: which is the right call?

Pruning is for dead branches and ladder-fuel limbs on a tree that is otherwise sound. A broken top or a mistletoe-infested limb can sometimes be removed; the mistletoe guide explains when.

Removal is the answer for a fir that has died or is mostly brown, that has root rot at the base, or that leans toward a structure. High firs on steep Tahoe lots are usually crane-assisted removal work. TRPA's rule applies in the basin: a live tree over 14 inches in diameter needs approval, a dead tree that could fall on a house does not, and the agency decides. See the Tahoe 14 inch rule.

What does Battle Born Tree Service do about a red fir?

The free estimate is where this gets decided. We assess the tree in person, and the arborist's call is one of pruning, dead-wood removal or removal. We hold a Nevada Business License (#20131580674) and are fully insured, and two of the eight crew members are ISA Certified Arborists (WE-11728A is one person's credential). For firewood, call the office for availability and pricing.