Photo Credit

USFS

In December 2022, whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The stressors driving the status include white pine blister rust, mountain pine beetle, altered fire regimes, encroaching competition, and climate change. Whitebark pine populations have a wide geographic spread and can be found in diverse habitats. Populations occur in many areas slated for fuels reduction and silviculture treatments. Ecological context of the treatment area will likely influence whether the management actions are beneficial, neutral, or detrimental to whitebark pine resilience. 

This project will build a network of sites with common treatment design parameters to study how different forest thinning, silviculture, fuels reduction, and restoration treatments alter fire risk as well as whitebark pine survival, growth, and forest health dynamics - including white pine blister rust infection and mountain pine beetle attack. The project will be deployed across the whitebark pine range in the western U.S. Information from this project can be used to develop site and situation specific treatment recommendations and ultimately accelerate adaptive management of a federally-listed keystone species. This work will also directly support the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Whitebark Pine Species Recovery Plan.  
 

Objectives

1. Establish a new network of experimental sites across the whitebark pine range in the western U.S. Network sites will be selected in collaboration with National Forest Service partners and will make use of planned projects with whitebark pine populations in Forest Service Regions 1, 4, 5, & 6.
2. Develop a ‘menu’ of common-design silviculture, fuels reduction, and restoration treatment options to deploy across the network of sites. Common design elements will be kept simple so that replication will be possible across different operational contexts. Common design elements ensure that the effects of treatments can be compared across different site types and environmental factors.
3. Develop, field test, and refine common monitoring protocols. The collaborative network will work together, using information gleaned from the literature review and local expertise to design a set of common measurement and monitoring protocols, data collection/submission, and replication guidelines.
4. Deploy a pilot study to develop, field test, and refine the protocols for this project. The results from this pilot project have the potential to provide an early assessment of pre- and post-thinning effects on whitebark pine survival and growth, vigor, and forest health dynamics and to act as a demonstration area for field tours and training.

Area of Interest

Whitebark pine range across the western U.S.

The area of consideration for this project is the U.S. range of whitebark pine, which spans high elevation areas above 5000 ft / 1500 m from the Olympic Peninsula and Cascades east to western Wyoming, stretching south into the Sierras. Isolated patches of whitebark pine can be found in the mountains of Nevada, northern California, and eastern Oregon. Within this area we will seek to establish connections with managers on landscapes with active or soon-to-be active projects in whitebark pine ecosystems to lay the groundwork and set up a network of thinning, daylighting, and fuels studies in an array of diverse whitebark pine habitats. A pilot project to explore and evaluate protocol methods will be conducted in the Sierra and Elko Front whitebark pine landscape and other locations across the western part of the species’ range. 

Expected Project Results

Outputs

1. A review paper on the known impacts and research gaps of fuels and thinning treatments on whitebark pine resilience will be published.
2. A General Technical Report summarizing the protocols for site selection, protocols for monitoring, and the common design treatment menu will be published.
3. A manuscript from the pilot project on monitoring techniques and sensitivities to examine the impact of forest management strategies on whitebark pine growth, health, and resiliency will be published.
4. Standardized datasheets with accompanying data collection protocols and monitoring guides for technicians to use in the field will be developed and shared.
5. The researcher team will hold virtual and in-person training workshops as these features are rolled out.
6. An open-source geodatabase showing the treatments sites, treatment blocks, and compiled site environmental and monitoring data will be developed and shared widely for use in research and management. 

Expected Outcomes

This project will result in strengthening feedback loops of communication between managers and researchers working strategically across multiple regions. Working with managers as they are deploying fuel treatments, implementing thinning and daylighting treatments, and conducting other management activities will generate a network of replicated and controlled sites that can be used to address management-relevant research questions in a robust way. Ultimately, this network will help develop management strategies to conserve and restore whitebark pine while also meeting other management goals. 

A conceptual model of the project flow, outputs, and outcomes.