Oregon Public Broadcasting

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Monday announced that it will consider giving federal protection to a pine tree that's struggling to survive in the high country.  The whitebark pine would become the first endangered tree species in the Northwest if it is indeed listed.

USFS

Distribution of Whitebark pine in North America

Whitebark pine is found near the tree line in the high Cascades and northern Rockies.  The Natural Resources Defense Council petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service to add the tree to the endangered species list.

The environmental group's spokesman Josh Mogerman says a warming climate gives pests entre to pine forests previously shielded by the cold.

Josh Mogerman: "The bark beetle is the most obvious one and the most damaging one. But they are also being attacked by an invasive fungus that is further weakening the trees."

An initial review by the Fish and Wildlife Service found sufficient cause to trigger an in-depth endangered species evaluation. 

That takes about a year.  If the whitebark pine were then listed -- and that's a big if -- it would be the first, broadly distributed tree species to be designated as endangered in the West.

The pine tree's range is nearly entirely on public lands.

On the web:

USFS: Whitebark Pine Distribution and Ecology

Oregon Field Guide