Drought, higher temperatures, hungry elk threaten aspen trees near Flagstaff

FLAGSTAFF — Beneath the scenic yellow and red leaves of soaring aspen trees in the Kachina Wilderness, forest ecologist Mike Stoddard is looking down. His concern isn’t the brilliant fall foliage but what’s growing beneath the forest floor. Seeking the markers for trees plotted two decades earlier, Stoddard is hoping data from the past will inform the future of these beloved groves.