Question
My husband and I are building a house south of Spokane, WA, which is zone 5.  We have lots of Ponderosa Pines on the property.  It seems lots of the trees have dead branches near the bottom, and these branches have what looks like brown moss hanging from them.  Could the trees need to be thinned and thus the remaining trees stronger and get more sun?  Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks.

Answer
Lower limbs of pines will die and shed due to shading from sunlight. This is normal and these dead limbs can be pruned off. It will be difficult to advise on if these trees need thinning not knowing how many there are and the closeness to each other and their age. I would suggest you call the Washington State Forestry agency and ask one of their Foresters to come out and advise you on the ground. Thus is a free service in most states.

Here is a web link to their contact page or you should be able to find the phone number in your local phone book,
http://www.dnr.wa.gov/ContactDNR/Pages/Home.aspx