Montana is one of the lucky states that boasts both an official state tree and grass. It shares its official grass, bluebunch wheatgrass, with Washington, but the ponderosa pine is Montana’s alone.
Among the first explorers to see ponderosa pines were Lewis and Clark. They saw its cones long before they reached Montana; they had drifted hundreds of miles down the Missouri River.
The story of the ponderosa pine’s adoption is summed up in the state tree resolution:
A joint Resolution Designating the Ponderosa Pine as the State Tree of Montana.
BE IT RESOLVED by the house of representatives of the thirty-first legislative assembly of the State of Montana, the senate concurring:
WHEREAS, the State of Montana, in the “land of the shining mountains,” is well known for its beautiful mountains and trees; and
WHEREAS, there has heretofore been no official designation of any species of tree as the state tree of Montana, except that the state forester has referred to the Ponderosa pine as the tree most typical of Montana, it being considered to be the best commercial tree and being referred to as the “king of the forests”; and
WHEREAS: the Montana Federation of Garden Clubs and affiliated clubs, through their officers and members, are urging that there be an official designation of the Ponderosa pine as the state tree, so that it may be referred to and pictured in publicity in the same manner as the state flower.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the house of representatives of the thirty-first legislative assembly of the State of Montana, the senate concurring, that the Ponderosa pine be selected and is hereby designated as the official state tree of Montana.
Approved February 21, 1949
Also known as the Western yellow pine, the ponderosa pine is the dominant pine of the Rocky Mountains from Canada to Mexico. (It also grows in Canada and Mexico.
Ponderosa pines grow straight and tall, sometimes more than two hundred feet. Lewis and Clark first learned of the tree’s existence when they found cones that had been washed down the Missouri River into the Dakotas.
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism - 
