National Parks Traveler Podcast · Kurt Repanshek

National Parks Traveler Podcast | Saving Whitebark Pines

·37 min·2 clips

A majority of whitebark pine trees across the range are declining, but Elizabeth Panzing says the species is “dire but hopeful.”

1. National Parks Traveler focuses on whitebark pine decline and restoration across the western United States. 2. Host Kurt Repencheck speaks with Dr. Elizabeth Panzing, Director of Forest and Restoration Science for American Forests, a nonprofit working on healthy and resilient forests. 3. The episode asks how whitebark pine can be saved while climate change, beetles, and white pine blister rust continue to damage the species. 4. Panzing says the state of whitebark pine is “dire but hopeful,” because more than 50% of the population across the range was dead by about 2018. 5. She says white pine blister rust has multiple spores and can move between pine and hosts such as currant, gooseberry, Indian paintbrush, and pedicularis species. 6. Panzing says the spores are airborne and can be carried by wind from local trees to higher elevations and sometimes hundreds of miles. 7. Repencheck asks about the fungus’s origin, and Panzing says it came from Eurasia and entered the United States through infected shipments of eastern white pine and western white pine. 8. She adds that eastern white pine on the East Coast, western white pine, and sugar pine on the West Coast were all affected in different introduction events. 9. Panzing says whitebark pine has benefited from earlier research on timber species because that work helped speed up a genetics program for resistant trees. 10. She identifies resistant seedlings and seeds as the most impactful restoration tool and says U.S. Forest Service nurseries are growing whitebark pine seedlings resistant to blister rust. 11. Panzing says verbenone is used to deter mountain pine beetles by signaling “no vacancy” to other beetles. 12. She says direct seeding is being tested because carrying seedling pallets into remote places like Grand Teton National Park can mean 4,000 feet of elevation gain and seven miles of backcountry travel. 13. When asked about planting success, she says Grand Teton’s recent planting and Yellowstone’s 2025 planting are too new to judge. 14. She says good plantings can exceed 90% survival, but outcomes depend on site location, planting method, and whether the crew knows what it is doing. 15. Panzing says the Southern Sierra remains a mystery because infection and decline rates are much lower there than in many other parts of the range. 16. She describes Yosemite whitebark stands as feeling like “walking back in time” because of the healthy canopies and animal activity she saw there. 17. The interview style is conversational and question-driven, with Repencheck moving from biology to restoration logistics to climate strategy. 18. Panzing’s tone is measured, technical, and personal, especially when she describes dead trees, field work, and long-term restoration commitments. 19. People interested in western forests, restoration ecology, and national park conservation will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners wanting a quick park-news update without ecology detail may skip it.

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