Whitebark Pine Conservation in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

Whitebark pine field crew, Custer Gallatin National Forest, Montana.

NPS/Shanahan

This article ends the article series, Whitebark Pine Monitoring in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) conservation in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) has been a collaborative effort spanning an area greater than 24 million acres across three states. It includes three national parks, five national forests, Bureau of Land Management lands, tribal lands, and private lands. What started as a grassroots effort quickly transformed into a multijurisdictional endeavor. In 2001, the Greater Yellowstone Coordinating Committee’s (GYCC) Whitebark Pine Subcommittee was established. The GYCC Whitebark Pine Subcommittee's mission is to help "ensure the long-term viability and function of whitebark pine in the Greater Yellowstone Area,” and it comprises members from the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. After several years in development, in 2011 the GYCC Whitebark Pine Subcommittee published the Whitebark Pine Strategy for the Greater Yellowstone Area (WBP Strategy). The WBP Strategy offers detailed guidelines for conserving and restoring whitebark pine populations across the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. In 2015, the Adaptive Action Plan: Whitebark Pine in the Greater Yellowstone Area (Adaptive Action Plan) was developed as an action supplement based on the WBP Strategy recommendations.

An effort is currently underway to create a national restoration strategy. The Greater Yellowstone Whitebark Pine Subcommittee is contributing to this strategy, which is scheduled to be finalized in 2022.

Links to learn more:

Greater Yellowstone Coordinating Committee

Whitebark Pine Subcommittee: Greater Yellowstone Coordinating Committee

Whitebark Pine Strategy for the Greater Yellowstone Area

Whitebark Pine in the GYE – Adaptive Action Plan Nov 2015

National Whitebark Pine Restoration Plan

Whitebark Pine Listing Under the Endangered Species Act

Following data-driven support and petitioning from advocacy groups (Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation, American Forest Foundation), in 2011 the US Fish and Wildlife Service designated whitebark pine as warranted but precluded for threatened or endangered listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This labeling is often more emblematic of financial constraints within the agency rather than an indication of species listing importance.

Over the next decade, whitebark pine populations across their historical range continued to experience rapid declines due to multiple agents, including white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola), mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae), wildfire, and climate change. More data and expert opinions were gathered in 2019 and the plight of whitebark pine was addressed again for a final ESA listing decision. In December of 2020, whitebark pine was proposed for listing as threatened under the Endangered Species Act by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Public comments on this proposal were solicited and accepted through February 1, 2021. On January 17, 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the whitebark pine as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

View listing decision actions by the US Fish and Wildlife Service:

Whitebark Pine

Other Whitebark Pine Monitoring and Research Efforts

In addition to guiding whitebark pine monitoring led by the NPS Greater Yellowstone Inventory and Monitoring Network, elements of the Interagency Whitebark Pine Monitoring Protocol for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem have been used in other studies of status and trend estimates of other five-needle pine species (Mckinney et al. 2013; Perkins et al. 2016). The monitoring program's data have also been requested by independent and university-affiliated researchers. Monitoring program data were incorporated into the whitebark pine Species Status Assessment conducted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service as part of its listing determination for the whitebark pine under the Endangered Species Act.

Learn More

Find National Park Service and external journal and collaborative publications tied to whitebark pine monitoring results on the Greater Yellowstone Network website.

References

Perkins, D. L, R. E. Means, and A. C. Cochrane. 2016. Conservation and management of whitebark pine ecosystems on Bureau of Land Management Lands in the western United States. Technical Reference 6711-1. Bureau of Land Management, Denver, Colorado.

McKinney, S. T., T. Rodhouse, L. Chow, A. Chung-MacCoubrey, G. Dicus, L. Garrett, K. Irvine, S. Mohren, D. Odion, D. Sarr, and L. A. Starcevich. 2013. Monitoring white pine (Pinus albicaulis, P. balfouriana, P. flexilis) community dynamics in the Pacific West Region - Klamath, Sierra Nevada, and Upper Columbia Basin Networks: Narrative version 1.1. Unpublished protocol revision update, April 2013. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado.