Pinon-juniper woodlands provide habitat for many birds and mammals. Scrub, pinon, and Steller's jays, along with Clark's nutcrackers, all cache pinon nuts for winter food. The pack rat often amasses middens (loosely covered surface heaps), each containing more than 100 pounds of nuts. Pinon nuts also attract black bears, squirrels, and wild turkeys, while mule deer browse heavily on pinon foliage in the winter.

Pinons of various species have served Native Americans for thousands of years. According to oral tradition, pinon nuts were a basic food of the earliest Tewa and Navajo ancestors. In addition, native cultures fashioned pinon wood into tool handles and weapons. After ...