In 2022, funding for continued monitoring will allow researchers to treat select whitebark pines with verbenone, a pheromone that deters beetles from infesting trees and to collect cones for genetic material to determine individual tree resistance to disease.

While pine beetles and blister rust threaten whitebark pines all over the West, researchers have determined that Grand Teton has a handful of the most blister rust-resistant trees in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Although mortality, the incidence of blister rust infection, and pine beetle outbreaks have increased since they were first detected in the park, regeneration of blister-rust resistant seedlings has been nearly 100% at sites where they are being monitored.

The park’s whitebark pine conservation program has been coordinated with similar efforts by other federal agencies and conservation organizations throughout the ecosystem for decades. The Jackson-based Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative will partner with the Foundation to conduct this monitoring and research in 2022.