Whitebark Pine

In previous posts I've written about the Whitebark Pines which grow in the mountains east of roughly the Noosgulch Valley in the Bella Coola Valley.  Tweedsmuir Park alpine areas and Heckman Pass are excellent areas to see them.  They are struggling everywhere in their range in Canada and the USA due Mountain Pine Beetle and Blister Rusts.  I noticed a couple today in the East Branch Area of Tweedsmuir Park, the one on the left struggling to hang on, while the one on the right is dead.

These two also survived the 2009 Wildfires that ravaged the Tweedsmuir Park area, if you look closely you can still see traces of the red dye used in the fire retardant that was used to save the buildings around the small Tweedsmuir Ski Club ski hill.  Grizzly