Whitebark Pine Faces 80% Decline in Current Habitat by 2050: What That Means For Bears, Birds, Farmers, and Ranchers

['University Of Colorado Denver', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Vertical-Align Middle .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar Is .Alignleft .Alignright'] YubaNet 2025-09-23 16:25:53

The threatened whitebark pine tree is a crucial food source for squirrels and grizzly bears. The nearest whitebark pine to us in Colorado is in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in Wyoming. “That means whole communities will lose their whitebark pine forests.”The areas where whitebark pine is projected to survive are mostly in public lands, especially Wilderness Areas and national parks. Tomback together with several colleagues started the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit based in Missoula, MT. The foundation is dedicated to the restoration of whitebark pine ecosystems and educating the public and resource management agencies about the importance of this pine.