In just two decades, more than a quarter of the whitebark pine trees that are a key food source for some grizzly bears have been killed by disease, climate change, wildfires and voracious beetles.
BILLINGS, Mont. — Whitebark pine trees can live more than 1,000 years, but in just two decades more than a quarter of the trees that are a key food source for some grizzly bears have been killed by disease, climate change, wildfires and voracious beetles, government officials said as they planned to announce federal protections Wednesday.
A nonnative fungus — white pine blister rust — has been killing whitebark pines for a century and they've been largely wiped out in areas. That includes the eastern edge of Yellowstone National Park, where seeds from the trees are a source of food for threatened grizzly bears. Wildlife officials declined to designate which forest habitats are critical to the tree’s survival, stopping short of what some environmentalists argue is needed. An estimated 88% of their habitat is federally owned, with most of that area managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
A 2009 court ruling that restored protections for Yellowstone bears cited in part the tree’s decline, although government studies later concluded the grizzlies could find other things to eat.
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