2014 Whitebark Pine Conservation Program Annual Report

Beck, Jennifer

This report outlines the activities that were completed in 2014 as part of the Crater Lake National Park Whitebark Pine Conservation Program. Major activities of Crater Lake National Park’s Whitebark Pine Conservation Program in 2014 supported the Park’s goals and objectives for conserving and restoring whitebark pine. Annual Collection tree monitoring detected no new mortality of Collection trees, one new white pine blister rust infection, and one new mountain pine beetle attack. Sixty-nine trees of management importance were treated with verbenone to help ward off attack by the mountain pine beetle. Despite a poor cone year for whitebark pine, cones were collected from 13 new trees throughout the Park. Eleven of these trees expressed phenotypic resistance to the disease white pine blister rust and two were infected with white pine blister rust and will be used as controls; these trees will enter rust-resistance screening at the USFS Dorena Genetic Resource Center. Results from the Park’s long-term monitoring plots indicate that whitebark pine is continuing its decline within plot areas, as mature whitebark pine have been reduced by 23.4% from 2003 – 2014. The leading mortality agent of whitebark pine within plot areas continues to be the mountain pine beetle. The Park’s four whitebark pine restoration plantings were monitored with survival rates ranging from 77 – 90% two to five years after planting. Planning is underway for the Park’s next whitebark pine restoration outplanting, scheduled for 2016.