 The lodgepole pines found throughout the Yellowstone Plateau high country grow in uninterrupted dense stands averaging similar ages in various groupings.Though trees normally found in more mature forests do occur, they are not found in large stands as in other forests in the Rocky Mountains.By the 1980s, much of the lodgepole pine forests in Yellowstone were between 200 and 250 years old and approaching the end of their life-cycle.