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The Whitebark Pine Tree has been petitioned to be placed as an endangered species under the Federal Endangered Species Act by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) last month.

The Whitebark Pine Tree is a pine that only grows at higher elevations and provides many key factors to our ecosystem. This tree produces a nut that provides the grizzly bears, the red squirrels and the Clark’s Nutcracker with a staple food that is rich in calories. During the winter months, the pine creates natural snow fences, in spring, it provides shelter for the snow from the powerful sun creating a slow and even melt and in summer it helps to maintain the water flow from the summer rains.

Unfortunately, this necessary forest inhabitant is becoming endangered by the global warming process, threatening it with evasive diseases such as blister rust and insects such as the Mountain Pine Beetle. This beetle infests and attacks trees that are already vulnerable due to other altercating factors. The Mountain Pine Beetle typically spends the winter months, in the late larvae stage, under the pine bark protected from the bitter cold months, only to emerge in spring and consume its host. Although, as a direct result of global warming the winter months are cut short enabling the beetle to produce more beetles and rise to higher elevations than ever before.

According the NRDC the Whitebark Pine could be the first “broadly dispersed tree” that would be protected by the Endangered Species Act. The loss of this tree could result in leaving large gaps in some of this continents’ most iconic landscapes and eliminate a vital food source for some of our most vital wildlife.

At the moment these Whitebark Pine forests have decreased by nearly 50% with the remaining 50% already infected with blister rust or infested with Mountain Pine Beetles and on the brink of extinction!

To bring this even closer to home, the nut produced by the Whitebark Pine that is feasted on by grizzly bears, is scarce. This scarcity will force the bears that are looking to pack on a few pounds before winter, further down the mountains in search of food, which will in turn bring these beautiful creatures in closer contact with humans. Which as we all know, if the grizzlies come in contact more with humans this could indeed create more grizzly attacks which would bring more grizzlies to their death.

I’ll keep you posted with the results of the petition; with any luck at all we can take the steps necessary to save these most important members of our environment!

~Wind

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