Ghost Forests

[BigHornRam]

Those of you that spend a lot of time hunting the high country have likely witnessed many ghost forests in the last 10 to 20 years.


This looks like a good upcoming documentary that explains what is going on here.

Ghost Forests

In the high country, it’s an uphill battle to save the imperiled white bark pine.

www.montanapbs.org

 

[Workingonit]

Beetle kill?

 

[MThuntr]

Beetle kill?

blister rust and other diseases.

Some don't want to hear it but there's a connection to climate change and pine beetles

 

[Straight Arrow]

Those of you that spend a lot of time hunting the high country have likely witnessed many ghost forests in the last 10 to 20 years.
View attachment 173067View attachment 173068

This looks like a good upcoming documentary that explains what is going on here.

Ghost Forests

In the high country, it’s an uphill battle to save the imperiled white bark pine.

www.montanapbs.org

We watched it last evening. It is an informative and concerning documentary. 'Glad there is an effort to renew that species of tree, but obviously the effort is not sufficient.

 

[BigHornRam]

Beetle kill?

That and blister rust.

You can watch the show now. I think they did a good job making it.

 

[Nameless Range]

Bumping this thread. Watched this documentary with my family the other day. Really enjoyed it.

Here's a ghost stand on the Occidental Plateau, just up the mountain from my home. These trees weren't ghosts when I was in High School.

 

[MThuntr]

We were skiing in the Pioneers this weekend and I noted how many of the Whitebark at the top were dead or dying from blister rust. A friend's dad from Whitefish noted the same thing about Big Mountain.

Side note: if any of you have traveled the world you'll notice that lots of Europe has black currant flavored candies vs our raspberry & cherry. The US had a ban on cultivation, sale, and transport in response to blister rust harming the timber industry though that ban was lifted in 2003 in most states except portions of New England.

 

[BigHornRam]

Sat in on a presentation by Bob Keane last night. Interesting discussion. Looks like whitebark pine is going to be listed as an endangered species soon. Encouraging news, that the USFWS is consulting with the scientific experts on how best to go about restoring the species. Tough road ahead, but I am hopeful of a good outcome.

National Whitebark Pine Restoration Plan – Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation

Data Call 2A Data Call 1 National Whitebark Pine Spatial Data Archive Progress NWPRP Presentation Tomback Sept, 2018 Background In summer 2016, the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation (WPEF) in partnership with American Forests approached the U.S. Forest Service with a bold idea: We proposed...

whitebarkfound.org

GNLCC - Whitebark Pine restoration in climate change | Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory

 

[Stsinclair]

Beautiful country, I hope USFWS is able to get a handle on it.