Download Alberta Whitebark and Limber Pine Recovery Planning

Alberta Whitebark and Limber Pine
Recovery Planning
Brad C. Jones
Forestry Division, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development
Western Canada Forest Health Workshop
Golden, BC May 10, 2012
Outline
Whitebark and limber pine in
Alberta
Endangered status
Recovery planning process
Recent recovery and conservation
efforts
Jean Lussier
Whitebark and limber pine in Alberta
Alberta distribution
General separation of range
(with some overlap)
Whitebark—high elevations
Limber—lower elevation
• Willmore and Whaleback photos
Joyce Gould
Day 1967, Forestry Chronicle:
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Large trees discovered north of
Crowsnest Pass in 1963
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Largest: 107‘; 31‘‘ dbh; 250 yrs
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Several more recorded in that ballpark
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Day refers to them as ―mother trees‖
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Seedlings found in cutblocks
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Suggests whitebark is good competitor
(e.g. shade tolerant)
80’/25m; 30’’/75 cm dbh
Whitebark and limber pine in Alberta
White pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola )
Whitebark and limber pine in Alberta
Health transects
Alberta Parks:
– 38 in whitebark
– 8 in limber
Parks Canada:
– 115 in whitebark between US
border and McBride, BC
– 85 in limber with Canadian
Forest Service (CFS)
Alberta Forestry:
– 7 in whitebark
– 1 in limber
Whitebark and limber pine in Alberta
Health transects
Whitebark:
For Canadian Rockies and Alberta
protected areas (COSEWIC
2010):
• Mean infection level is 41.3%
• Mean mortality level is 22.1%
• Highest infection and mortality
towards south
Whitebark and limber pine in Alberta
Health transects
Limber:
For Canadian Rockies and Alberta
protected areas:
• Mean infection level is 43%
• Mean mortality level is 35%
• Highest infection and mortality
towards south
Whitebark and limber pine in Alberta
Mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae)
Brooks Horne
Whitebark and limber pine in Alberta
MPB vs. whitebark and limber pine in current outbreak
• Approximately 5000 trees attacked during current infestation
• Mostly north of Crowsnest Pass and in Willmore Wilderness
• Attacked five-needle pines removed
• Verbenone protection
– Targeting ‗plus trees‘ in Waterton
– Protecting three ―healthy‖ stands in Willmore since 2006
MPB vs. WBP & LP
• Threat to whitebark and limber
diminished at the moment
• Keeping an eye on Flathead
Valley infestations
Previous MPB outbreaks
• Last infestation in ‘70s/‘80s killed
over 35,000 limber pine (Alberta
Forest Service 1986)
• Observational reports indicate
high number of whitebark killed in
Castle area along divide
Endangered status
Provincial
• Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) and limber pine (Pinus
flexilis) are designated as Endangered under Alberta‘s Wildlife
Act
– Listed on September 9, 2009
• Based on ―an ongoing and projected decline across the
species‘ provincial range, caused by the introduced WPBR
and MPB‖
• Endangered designation means… ―a species facing imminent
extirpation or extinction‖
• Recovery plan to be prepared within 12 months of the species
listing
Endangered status
Federal
• Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada
(COSEWIC) recommended whitebark listed as endangered in
April 2010
– Receipt acknowledged October 27, 2011
– Final consultation closes May 21, 2012
– Decision by July 27, 2012 (9 months after receipt)
• Limber to be submitted for assessment within foreseeable
future
Recovery planning process
Recovery plans
• One team, two plans
• Fosters team approach to
conservation (i.e. inter-jurisdictional)
• Builds on recovery work being done
prior to initiation of process
Recovery planning process
Alberta Whitebark and Limber Pine Recovery Team
Fish and Wildlife Division, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development (co-chair)
Forestry Division, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development (co-chair)
Parks Division, Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation
Parks Canada
Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada
Alberta Native Plant Council
Alberta Forests Products Association
Recovery planning process
Recovery planning
• Serves as advice to the minister
• Provide clear direction for recovery
• Not legal document
• Plans nearing completion…
Recovery planning process
The overall goal of the recovery program is to restore species
identified as Threatened or Endangered to viable, naturally selfsustaining populations within Alberta.
Objectives include:
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Reduce direct mortality
Conserve genetic diversity
Develop and introduce rust-resistant strains
Increase and enhance natural regeneration
Restoration planting
Assess impacts from climate change
Support research
Reduce impact from recreational and commercial activity
Recovery planning process
Strategies for both whitebark and limber pine:
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Protection of high-value stands and individual trees
Population monitoring (inventory and assessment)
Propagate and deploy whitebark and limber pine
Habitat and natural regeneration management
Facilitate research
Information and outreach
Recent recovery and conservation efforts
• Carmen Wong (UBC)
– Stand dynamics in whitebark pine in Willmore Wilderness
• Evan Esch (UA)
– Phenology of mountain pine beetle in whitebark and lodgepole
• Vern Peters (King‘s University College)
– Seed predation and regeneration (whitebark and limber)
• Tracy McKay and Karen Graham (FRI)
– Grizzly bear utilization of whitebark
• Adam McLane/Andrew Befus (UC)
– Predictive modeling of distribution of whitebark and limber
• Joyce Gould/Ellen Macdonald (AB Parks/UA) - in-house
– Identification of whitebark regeneration sites
Recent recovery and conservation efforts
Distribution and inventory
• Require stand-level distribution maps
– Particularly poor in C5 FMU
• Research in U of C remote sensing
lab (Dr. Greg McDermid) using
predictive models
– 91% accuracy in Waterton
Recent recovery and conservation efforts
Cone collection and seed extraction
• Stored at Alberta Tree Improvement
and Seed Center (ATISC):
– 19.6 kg of whitebark seed
– 78.65 kg of limber seed
• Waterton Lakes NP:
– Potentially blister rust resistant trees
– 50,000 seeds from limber in 2010
– Seed from 10 limber and 3 whitebark
pine trees sent for screening to Coeur
d‘Alene Nursery
Recent recovery and conservation efforts
Grizzly bear connection
• AB Parks project in Willmore to
determine if bears use whitebark pine
seeds as food source
– Initial results supported hypothesis
– Next step – isotope analysis of hair
Recent recovery and conservation efforts
Incorporation of protection of whitebark and limber pine into
provincial policy and guidelines
Operating ground rules
Land-Use Framework
Enhanced Approval Process
Recent recovery and conservation efforts
Communication: Creating products and programs
Snazzy brochure
Parks interpretive programs
Recent recovery and conservation efforts
Communication
Mail-out to landowners,
leaseholders, stakeholders,
etc. in southwest Alberta
• Include brochure
• Help in locating trees
• Avoid unnecessary damage or
mortality…
Robin Gutsell, Fish and Wildlife Division, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development (co-chair)
Brad Jones, Forestry Division, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development (co-chair)
Leonard Barnhardt, Forestry Division, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development
Dr. Joyce Gould, Parks Division, Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation
Dr. David Langor, Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada
Cyndi Smith, Waterton Lakes National Park, Parks Canada
Kelly Ostermann, Alberta Native Plant Council
Contact: [email protected]
www.srd.alberta.ca/FishWildlife/SpeciesAtRisk
www.whitebarkfound.org & www.whitebarkpine.ca