This area is the meeting place of three distinct plant communities: the ponderosa pine woodland, the mixed grass prairie, and the Cascade warm springs ecosystem. Their boundaries constantly shift due to fire, grazing, and weather events. During the last century, wildfires became less frequent and more intense here, and pine trees crept out onto the prairie. The reduction in wildfires resulted from fire suppression efforts beginning in the early 1900s, livestock grazing that removed grasses that spread fires, and road and fence construction that broke up the spread of fire. In August 2000, lightning started a wildfire about 3 miles southeast of here that eventually consumed 7,386 acres. As a result, the pine community will shift again, this time in favor of the prairie. Already, grasses and small shrubs are migrating into areas that were occupied by ponderosa pine and Rocky Mountain juniper. Over time, the forest and prairie continue changing places, shifting positions, and responding to the dynamics of nature.