Whitebark Pine #s Down 41% In W. Cascades; In Coast Range/Olympics, Blister Rust From 4% To 49%

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When it comes to the number of acres or trees killed by beetles and an invasive fungus called white pine blister rust, hard data typically requires aerial surveys and is frustratingly inexact. Researchers instead focus on trend lines.

And in the Northwest, they all point in one direction. A study in the mid-2000s showed whitebark trees had declined by 41 percent in the Western Cascades. Tree declines throughout Washington and Oregon hovered around 35 percent. In the coastal range and the Olympics, blister rust infection ranged from 4 to 49 percent. Nearly 80 percent of the whitebark in Mount Rainier National Park are infected. Whitebark deaths in North Cascades National Park doubled in the last five years.

"We know the incidence of blister rust infection and mountain pine beetle outbreaks is increasing exponentially," says biologist Amy Nicholas. She authored a report for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this summer that concluded whitebark pine across the West belongs on the Endangered Species List. The agency declined to list the tree, saying it didn't have the money.

"When you look at the big picture, the studies all say the same thing," Nicholas says.

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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2016699269_barkbeetle06m.html