LARAMIE — A research project in the Medicine Bow National Forest might help slow the spread of white pine blister rust, which is killing trees across the West.
As part of the Southern Rockies Rust Resistance Trial, more than 700 limber pine and bristlecone pine seedlings were transferred to the forest in August. They initially were planted at the Colorado State Forest Service nursery in Fort Collins.
Some trees were selected because they have resistance to the disease. Others are susceptible.
They will all be exposed to white pine blister rust in hopes that the resistant ones will prove their immunity outside a laboratory setting, paving the way for growing more.
“It’s very critical for future management of different species of white pines,” said Laramie Ranger District forester Sara Alberts.
White pine blister rust is a pathogen that came to North America from Asia. It affects members of the five-needle pine group, also called white pines, which include limber pine and bristlecone pine.
