Volunteers Plant Disease-Resistant Limber Pines in Rocky Mountain National Park

Park staff and volunteers at the limber pine planting. National Park Service.

Rocky Mountain National Park and the Rocky Mountain Conservancy, the park's main philanthropic partner, hosted a limber pine planting project in which about 70 volunteers worked with Park Service staff over seven days to plant 1,769 seedlings in an area burned by the 2020 East Troublesome fire.

Why limber pine matters

Limber pine is a Species of Management Concern in the park because of its role in the ecosystem: it feeds wildlife, stabilizes soil and helps hold snow. The park's limber pines also have some of the highest genetic resistance to white pine blister rust, a fungus that kills many five-needle pines, limber pine among them; about one in five of the park's limber pines resist it. Planting them helps keep this unusual, disease-tolerant population going.

From seed to slope

Seeds collected from the park's own limber pines were sent to a growing facility to germinate, and the seedlings were brought back for planting. They went in during October to give them the best chance: winter snow provides moisture to grow and shelters the young trees from wind. Each seedling's location was recorded with GIS, so staff can return to track survival and growth.

Sources

• National Park Service, Rocky Mountain National Park, "Volunteers Plant Limber Pine Seedlings in Rocky Mountain National Park." https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/volunteers-plant-limber-pine-seedlings-in-rocky-mountain-national-park.htm