The Pando aspen stand was once thought to be the heaviest organism in the world. The stand covers some forty acres on a mountainside beside Fish Lake at 9,500 feet above sea level. Aspen spread by sending out roots that sprout clones of the parent tree called "suckers." Through this process, entire stands of aspen are often clones of one individual conected by a complex system of roots. Semester in the West visited the Pando Clone with Grand Canyon Trust's Mary O'Brien to install a temporary grazing exlosure and to document the clone with a photo essay. Click the icon to the left to begin a slideshow of the photo essay. Please be patient while the slideshow loads, some of the files are large.