The Whitebark Pine

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) is an Idaho Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Special Status Species and a Federal Candidate species under the Endangered Species Act. The US Fish and Wildlife Service issued their twelve (12) month finding on a petition to list whitebark pine as a threatened or endangered species on July 19, 2011 in Federal Register Volume 76, Number 138. The finding was that of “warranted but precluded” with a Listing Priority Number (LPN) of 2. Whitebark is long-lived, five needle pine of high elevations. On BLM administered lands in Idaho it occurs near US Forest Service lands and as isolated populations on mountain islands.  It is a keystone species, important to numerous species of wildlife. Major threats to the persistence of whitebark pine are an exotic fungus, white pine blister rust (Croartium ribicola), mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonous ponderosae) infestations, succession, fire and fire suppression, and climate change. The list of references (below) provides comprehensive information on ecology, threats and management.

Challis Field Office Whitebark Pine Gallery

References

• Cone Collecting Instructions 2009

• Enhanced Monitoring to Better Address Rapid Climate Change in High-Elevation Parks

• Land Managers Guide to Whitebark Pine Restoration in the Pacific Northwest Region 2009-2013
• Limber Pine & Whitebark Pine on BLM Lands: A Need for Action

• Management Guide to Ecosystem Restoration Treatments: Whitebark Pine Forests of the Northern Rocky Mountains, U.S.A.
• Methods for Surveying and Monitoring Whitebark Pine for Blister Rust Infection & Damage
• Modeling Contemporary Climate Profiles of Whitebark Pine (Pinus albicaulis) & Predicting Responses to Global Warming

• Options for the Management of White Pine Blister Rust in the Rocky Mountain Region

• Proactive intervention to sustain high-elevation pine ecosystems threatened by white pine blister rust

• Synthesis of Lower Treeline Limber Pine (Pinus flexilis) Woodland Knowledge, Research Needs & Management Considerations - 07/06/11

• The future of high-elevation, five-needle white pines in Western North America: Proceedings of the High Five Symposium - 07/01/11

• Whitebark Pine & Limber Pine: Ecology & Status in the Rockies
• Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation
• Whitebark Pine Cone Collection Manual
• Whitebark Pine Operational Cone Collection Instructions & Seed Transfer Guidelines
• Whitebark Pine Planting Guidelines
• Whitebark Pine Strategy for the Greater Yellowstone Area - 07/01/11
• FWS 12 Month Finding on Whitebark Pine - 07/23/11