ESA News

Fish and Wildlife Won’t List Threatened Whitebark Pine as Endangered

By New West Editor, 7-19-11

	A dead whitebark pine tree near Daisy Pass, MT. Photo by Whitney Leonard for NRDC.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Department this week announced its conclusions from a 12-month study prompted by a petition to list the whitebark pine as endangered: The tree is threatened and deserves protection, but it won’t get that this time around.

The department’s announcement explained that “after review of all available scientific and commercial information, we find that listing P. albicaulis as threatened or endangered is warranted. However, currently listing [whitebark pine] is precluded by higher priority actions to amend the Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants.”

Instead, the tree will be added as a candidate to the species list, with a “proposed rule” to revisit listing it as endangered “as our priorities and funding will allow.”

The study was prompted by a petition filed in 1991 by the Missoula-based Great Bear Foundation, which indicated then the species was in rapid decline thanks to mountain pine beetles, whitpine blister rust and fire suppression. The USFWS, in its latest report, said that “after reviewing the petition, we found that the petitioner had not presented substantial information indicating that listing [whitebark pine] may be warranted.” That was the department’s conclusion in 1994, which was published in the federal registry.

New West put a call into the foundation and will update if and when it’s returned.

In 2008, the Natural Resources Defense Council took up the cause, officially, when it petitioned for both endangered status and “critical habitat” designation. Although USFWS signaled that the NRDC had provided information, including climate change data, that the earlier petition lacked, it ruled in 2009 against an emergency listing to temporarily list whitebark pine. Among its reasons: a lack of staffing and budget limitations.

The NRDC then decided to sue, citing a 90-day rule missed by the USFWS to respond correctly to the NRDC’s original petition. At that point, the USFWS launched a 90-day review that shed some hope on those hoping the species would get protections. Last year, the department, based on information provided in the petition, concluded that a listing for whitebark pine “might be warranted” and opened the process up for public comment. The latest finding is the result of that. According to the report, “We reviewed the information provided in NRDC’s petition, information available in our files, other available published and unpublished information, and information received from the public. Additionally, we consulted with recognized Federal and non-Federal Pinus albicaulis experts, plant pathologists, and plant geneticists. All information received has been carefully considered in this finding.”

For more about the whitebark pine, its role in bear habitat, as well as what losing it will mean beyond bears, see New West’s story, ”Grizzlies Only Scratch the Surface of What It Will Mean to Lose the Whitebark Pine.”

Editor’s Note: This post has been corrected to reflect the accurate name of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Like this story? Get more! Sign up for our free newsletters.