It's official: last week, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) approved a grant of $150,000 for a comprehensive assessment of beetle damage of whitebark pine in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), using global positioning system technology.  This is important because the mountain pine beetle outbreak is killing whitebark pine so quickly that no one has an accurate picture of what is dead and alive.  And, as a foundational species, whitebark pine is vital to the health of the high-mountain ecosystems and a diversity of wildlife, from tiny chipmunks to the Great Bear.

 The standard aerial detection methods used by the USFS to assess bug damage are not up to the challenges facing whitebark because: 1.) they primarily target commercially valuable forests, which do not include whitebark, and they typically avoid national parks and Wilderness areas where logging is prohibited (but where about 62% of whitebark pine lives in the GYE); and, 2.) the USFS does not fly the whole ecosystem each year, so there is not a complete picture of the status and trends of whitebark health.

 Last year, with the help of a special grant by NRDC, we developed a citizen science initiative to collect on-the-ground data on beetle damage of whitebark pine.  A number of climbers, wilderness guides, backpackers, and recreationists (including National Outdoor Leadership School instructors, guide Bob Hoskins, outfitters Meredith and Tory Taylor, outdoor adventurer Forrest McCarthy, Dena Adler and Colin Peacock), have contributed enormously to improving our understanding of whitebark pine health. 

The whitebark gang in Jackson, Wyoming on May 20th.  From left to right: Matt Skoglund of NRDC; yours truly; Catherine Logan (Jesse's wonderful wife); beetle man extraordinaire, Jesse Logan; Janet Barwick of NRDC; Jane Pargiter of EcoFlight (and famous photographer); Bruce Gordon of EcoFlight; Sami and Will MacFarlane (the next generation); Wally Macfarlane of Geo Graphics; down in front, Rip the dog, Bruce and Jane's co-pilot.

As part of this effort, we launched an experimental project with Dr. Jesse Logan, EcoFlight and Wally MacFarlane and others at Geo/Graphics to see if we could accurately assess beetle damage of whitebark pine from the air.  Longtime friend, veteran pilot and avid conservationist Bruce Gordon of EcoFlight was enthusiastic about the project; and with the help and expertise of GIS whiz Wally MacFarlane and others, the team figured out how to collect data systematically from the air on beetle damage in whitebark pine.  Using Dr. Jesse Logan's methods of categorizing beetle damage, digital photography and GPS equipment, they flew hard-hit areas, as well as places where whitebark is still in relatively good shape, like the Beartooths.  (Jesse has great hopes that because of its high elevation and the existence of remnant glaciers, the Beartooths may remain a refugium for whitebark pine.) With Bruce's plane flying at 13,000 feet and 190 miles per hour, it was not clear at the outset that this experiment would work.  But the results were astonishing.  Wally and Bruce flew areas where the USFS had whitebark pine information from its aerial detection surveys, and found good concurrence with the agency's findings.  Essentially for a fraction of the cost that the USFS would need to do a comprehensive assessment of all bugs, in all types of forests, we found we could get a good grip on the status of whitebark pine health from the air.  Bruce and Wally could also distinguish which whitebark were killed by beetles versus fire, a critical distinction to understanding the dynamics of what is happening to whitebark pine in the ecosystem.

 Bruce Gordon of EcoFlight with Sharon Buccino, NRDC Land Program Director, Summer 2008 after whitebark pine over flights.

USFS officials were impressed with our results, and thanks to champions Steve Munson and Liz Davy of the Bridger Teton National Forest, the agency came through with full funding this year to fly the entire GYE.

 Liz Davy, Silviculturalist for the Bridger Teton Forest, group leader of the Whitebark Pine Working Group and heroine of whitebark conservation

 We don't expect the pictures to be rosy (and in previous blogs you've seen a lot of dead and dying trees), but it is essential that we know what is happening in the whitebark ecosystem.  Since whitebark pine is a keystone species of mountain country, playing a major role in the region's hydrology and the health of wildlife such as grizzlies, the stakes are especially high.

 This assessment also might provide information about the last whitebark refugia, such as the Beartooths and central Wind Rivers, where whitebark may remain healthy, assuming we turn the thermostat down quickly enough.

 Many thanks to the USFS for committing to improving our understanding of this vital forest ecosystem before it's too late.  Whitebark pine conservation is, at bottom, a family affair-a family of individuals and organizations committed to this unique and important forest ecosystem.  And the USFS is an essential member of this family.

 Wally, Bruce, Colin Peacock and Dena Adler are already up in the air collecting data.  Next time, a bird's eye view of Greater Yellowstone...