CFE Credits available - Trees grow rather precariously across most Rocky Mountain Landscapes with water availability and water loss one of the most dominating physical factors that determines where, water species and how they grow. Whereas weather impacts trees on an annual basis, climate determines the longevity and distribution of forests across a highly varied landscape where topographic features also play an important role. This presentation will cover the history and ecology of forest development across western landscapes, the paradigms we all live and work with today including wildfires and insect outbreaks, and offer some review and discussion about climate change predictions, and their implications towards the future forests and management actions that might be taken to ensure their conservation.