“We don’t know what’s going to happen without whitebark.”-
I know it will soon be functionally extinct, although no doubt some token remnants will be protected from beetles and blister rust. Ecologically speaking, it is already almost gone.
Here is a long essay on its demise and the effects. Feature article in New West. Grizzlies Only Scratch the Surface of What It Will Mean to Lose the Whitebark Pine. The twisted, threatened symbol of high elevation connects an entire ecosystem. As one biologist puts it, “We don’t know what’s going to happen without whitebark.” By Shauna Stephenson. New West
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Ralph Maughan
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University with specialties in natural resource politics, public opinion, interest groups, political parties, voting and elections. Aside from academic publications, he is author or co-author of three hiking/backpacking guides, and he is President of the Western Watersheds Project.
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It is nice to see a well written and informative article about this. . and while this is going on people are actively pursuing the idea of taking debris out of the forest to make bio fuels! Why can’t the knowledge gained from one thing be transferred to another. . as they state here you remove a food source from the forest and it effects the whole ecosystem. Every bit of debris I have ever examined in the forest has visible food sources, not counting the invisible microbs for all sizes of animals. Here in Washington state biofuels is the new dirty green word.
Please check out Dailykos – an article by “hold tight” entitled “Our Dying Forests.” It explains that there is so much more we need to worry about other than the death of the whitebark pine trees – trees of all kinds in all parts of the world.