Flights document 1 million acres of dead whitebark pine in and around Yellowstone

Study: Yellowstone-area whitebark toll 1M acres

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A researcher says aerial photographs and maps document 1 million acres of whitebark forest dead or dying from mountain pine beetles and an invasive fungus in the Yellowstone area, with another 1 million acres considered at risk.

The Natural Resources Defense Council released a report Wednesday on the dead and dying high-elevation forests in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. Report author Wally Macfarlane says the toll is approaching and could far exceed the acreage of all trees that burned in the region’s infamous 1988 wildfires.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to decide next year on the group’s petition to list the pine as endangered. The group says climate change is primarily responsible by causing the beetle outbreak.