Feds propose listing whitebark pine under Endangered Species Act, but is it too late?

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last week proposed listing the whitebark pine, an iconic high elevation tree as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

In places like Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness, former whitebark pine habitat is often “ghost forests” of blanched and dead trees decimated primarily by blister rust, a fungal infection introduced from eastern white pine nursery stock from Europe in a shipment into Vancouver, British Columbia in 1910.

In addition to blister rust, the trees, have been impacted by mountain pine beetle, high intensity wildfire and climate change.

These factors led scientists to conclude that after decades of decline, an estimated 51% of all standing whitebark pine trees were dead as of 2016.

“Active research and management to identify and use genetic resistance to white pine blister rust offers the best potential for successful long-term reforestation or restoration,” the Service noted in a 170-plus page species status assessment.

But it will take a monumental effort, the document notes.

“...The vast scale at which planting rust-resistant trees would need to occur, long timeframes in which restoration efficacy could be assessed, and limited funding and resources, will make it challenging to restore whitebark pine throughout its range. One estimate indicates that if planting continues at its current pace, it would take over 5,000 years to cover just 5 percent of the range of whitebark pine,” the Service said.

Forests are already suffering and things are getting worse locally.

“In the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex … over the last 20 years mortality increased from 35 to 80 percent with more than 60 percent of that mortality attributed to blister rust,” the Service noted.

Still, there is being work done to try to conserve the species. Nurseries are being developed to plant “plus” trees trees that are resistant to the disease.

“Over 22,000 seedlings derived from rust-resistant parents have been planted throughout Glacier National Park since 2002,” the Service notes.

Whitebark pine are a keystone species, creating critical plant and wildlife habitat on otherwise barren mountain slopes. Their fat-rich seeds are a crucial component of many animals’ diets, including grizzly bears. The pines’ umbrella-like growth shades snow and creates natural snow banks, helping to ensure a steady release of water in the spring.

In the natural environment, whitebark pine are spread and “planted” primarily by one bird — the Clark’s nutcracker, which gathers the seeds and caches them in the ground to eat later. The bird, however, doesn’t always remember where the caches are, and thus more trees are propagated.

But as the trees decline, the birds, which aren’t exclusive to whitebark pine, aren’t feeding in the remaining forests as much, thus fewer and fewer are planted naturally, the Service notes.

Mortality rates among the pines, which aren’t typically sexually mature until 40 to 60 years, have been alarmingly steep and expected to get worse if nothing is done.

“Based on current mortality rates (including all mortality factors), the estimated whitebark pine population decline within 100 years is 78 percent in the Canadian Rockies, 97 percent in Waterton Lakes National Park, and 57 percent for all of Canada,” the document notes.

Whitebark pine is broadly distributed across a range of more than 80.5 million acres in seven western states (Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada) and Canada.

As a threatened species, protections for whitebark pine would include prohibiting the removal of whitebark pine on federal lands and prohibiting whitebark pine import, export and activities related to interstate and foreign commerce. Federal forest management, restoration or research-related activities would not be prohibited, allowing for optimal, flexible and adaptive forest activities that could advance whitebark pine conservation now and in the future, the Service noted in a release.

The agency is taking comment on the proposed listing until Feb. 1. Comments may be submitted electronically at www.regulations.gov by searching under docket number FWS–R6–ES–2019–0054 and clicking on the “comment now” button.