MISSOULA, Montana — In a highly anticipated decision, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) issued a final rule to list whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). This landmark listing establishes protections and conservation measures for whitebark pine across its U.S. range. Whitebark pine is the most widely distributed tree species to be listed under the ESA. Whitebark pine inhabits over 80 million acres in western North America with approximately 70% of its distribution in the U.S. It ranges from 36 to 56 degrees latitude throughout the higher mountain ranges of the Pacific states and British Columbia, Canada, and throughout the Rocky Mountains from the Greater Yellowstone region north through the Canadian Rockies. Whitebark pine is listed as endangered in Canada under the Species at Risk Act and on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, underscoring the urgent need to secure protections range wide.

Additional coverage by the Associated Press, Matthew Brown: Whitebark pine that feeds grizzlies is threatened, US says