JACKSON, Wyo. — This week, the Bridger-Teton National Forest (BTNF) saw targeted efforts to protect whitebark pine trees in the midst of the Fish Creek Fire.
According to a BTNF Facebook post on Sept. 17, firefighters have focused on clearing vegetation around individual whitebark pine trees and removing low branches with the goal of reducing fuel if the fire reaches these trees.
The emphasis on protecting whitebark pines comes from its role as a keystone and foundation species in the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA). The BTNF confirms that whitebark pines are often the first tree species to establish in an area unfriendly to other plants, and only once the whitebark pine is established can other species grow.
Whitebark pines are also a dominant food source for Clark’s nutcrackers, and a critical protein source for bears.
Because whitebark pines occupy a special niche in western North American sub-alpine ecosystems that are harsh and dry, the BTNF explains this unique habitat preference puts the trees at greater risk of death after wildfires. While whitebark pine are considered by the BTNF to be “moderately fire-adapted,” with trees able to endure low to moderate intensity wildfires, individual trees weakened by stressors are less likely to survive.
Those stressors include blister rust and pine beetles, which have been causing significant declines to whitebark pine populations in the GYE.
According to the BTNF, ecologists and other scientists have been working together with firefighting crews to address whitebark pine protection in the Fish Creek Fire.
“Ecological effects last long after a fire is out and crews on the Fish Creek Fire are dedicated to providing a path to increase their chance of survival.”
BTNF
“These experts have been researching and collecting data to provide appropriate management recommendations to the Forest,” the BTNF writes on their Facebook. “Ecological effects last long after a fire is out and crews on the Fish Creek Fire are dedicated to providing a path to increase their chance of survival.”
Additionally, women from a West Coast Reforestation team based in Salem, Oregon, have joined forces on the Fish Creek Fire to support firefighters as well. The BTNF recognized crew members like Lourdes Pastrana, Daisy Pastrana, Jeaneth Pastrana, Ary Garcia and Nathalie Perez on their Facebook page this week, women who are organizing, cleaning and packing all tools coming back from the fire to ensure firefighters have functional equipment.
Jim Bartlett, public information officer for the Fish Creek Fire, tells Buckrail that the Fish Creek Fire is not a containment fire but a confinement fire. This means crews are working to protect values at risk and fortify different containment features on the landscape. As of Sept. 18, the completion of confinement is at 79 percent and Bartlett reports the presence of snow up where the fire is.
“[The fire] has stayed in its footprint the better part of the last two weeks,” Bartlett says.
