restoring whitebark pine ecosystems to enhance...

[email protected] • Box 4274 Smithers, BC V0J 2N0 Canada

HABITAT CONSERVATION TRUST FOUNDATION

PROJECT REPORT

Restoring Whitebark Pine Ecosystems to Enhance

Subalpine Bear Habitat HCTF PROJECT FILE # CAT12-6-227

First Annual Report 2011-12

Professional tree-climber John Kelson prepares to install cone cages on a rust-free whitebark pine seed tree in Nenikekh/Nanika-Kidprice Provincial Park that has been repeatedly climbed by bears to feed on cones. (photo credit: S. Haeussler, BVRC)

Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation Report Template

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PROJECT NAME: Restoring Whitebark Pine Ecosystems to Enhance Subalpine Bear Habitat

HCTF PROJECT FILE # CAT12-6-227

3. FISCAL YEAR (E.G. APRIL 2011 TO MARCH 2012)

FOR CONTINUING PROJECTS, YEAR 1_ OF 5_

4. LOCATION

a) Distance from a known place:50 km southwest of Houston, BC

b) Lats/Longs: The project application asked for UTM so we believe it is more consistent to provide UTM

coordinates in this report as well

Site 1: 601768E/ 5976846N

Site 2: 576397E/6001956N

5. PROJECT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - Please keep concise; one page recommended length. Once the project is completed, this section will be used to assist HCTF in meeting various communications objectives.

Seeds of the endangered whitebark pine tree (Pinus albicaulis) are an important source of food for grizzly bears, black bears and other subalpine wildlife species on the leeward slopes of the central BC Coast Range to as far north as Smithers, BC. Unfortunately, whitebark pine is in rapid decline due to combined effects of mountain pine beetle (MPB), the introduced disease white pine blister rust, fire suppression practices and climate change and has recently been recommended for red-listing by COSEWIC. The Bulkley Valley Research Centre has been studying the ecology of this species in west central BC since 2007 and began a collaborative restoration program with a variety of partners in 2011/12 with the intent of planting blister-rust resistant seedlings in areas of high value bear habitat. Two recent wildfires (2004 Nanika Fire within Nenikekh/Nanika Kidprice Provincial Park, 2010 Gosnell Ck. Fire just north of Morice Lake Park) were selected as initial trial sites. These burns are adjacent to salmon runs and have abundant resprouting black huckleberry but whitebark regeneration is poor. Black and grizzly bears are numerous in both areas. In 2011, we planted 100 whitebark pine seedlings and 500 stratified whitebark pine seeds over 2 hectares at two sites (severe burn; light burn plus MPB) in the Gosnell Ck. wildfire. The planted seedlings had 100% survival through the first growing season while the stratified seeds had 20% germination. We caged cones on 52 pine trees and collected some 30,000 seeds at 5 sites near Smithers and Houston, BC for future restoration plantings. Half of the seeds are now stored at the BC tree seed centre to be used for blister-rust screening and other gene conservation purposes. The second half of the seeds will be used local restoration plantings. We stratified 6900 seeds over the winter of 2011 and these were sown in April 2012 at Woodmere Nursery in Telkwa, BC. These are the first whitebark seedlings ever grown in northwest BC. We expect to outplant seedlings in 3-4 years. All of the seeds from the Nanika area will be used in Nanika-Kidprice Park while other seedlots will be used on the Gosnell wildfire and other MPB restoration sites. The restoration project exceeded our goals for the first year and received tremendous in-kind and volunteer support from a variety of local, provincial, and national partners. We have been very successful in finding new financial partners by leveraging the $5000 annual grant from HCTF and hope to transition from a dominantly volunteer effort to a more sustainably financed project over the next few years by expanding partnerships with industry. The project received X hours of volunteer work in 2011/12, participated in a variety of extension activities with the local community, and received two awards (1 local, 1 provincial) for volunteerism in 2012. People from all sectors are talking about whitebark pine and it is very exciting!


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7. ACTIVITIES/TECHNIQUE(S) AND MEASURES OF RESULTS For each objective, describe the specific activities that were undertaken. Describe how the activities related to the objective(s) and how they resolved the identified problem. Were there any problems or unforeseen issues?

General Objective: To enhance habitat for grizzly and black bears and other subalpine wildlife (Clark’s Nutcrackers, jays, squirrels, chipmunks and other rodents) by planting disease-resistant whitebark pine seeds and seedlings within recent wildfires and adjacent MPB-killed areas located in areas of excellent bear habitat. Operational Objectives: 1. To collect viable seeds from at least 20 apparently blister-rust resistant whitebark pine parent trees in 2011 and per year over 5 years (seed production is intermittent). The BV Research Centre obtained a permit from BC Parks to conduct whitebark pine seed collection and related research activities in several Skeena Region parks. 2011 was a moderate seed year with some stands having moderate cone crops (eg Nenikekh/Nanika-Kidprice) and other stands (e.g. Gosnell Creek area) having no cones. With additional funding from BC Ministry of FLNRO Tree Improvement Branch and Mountain Equipment Coop we were able to conduct a helicopter survey to locate accessible stands with satisfactory 2011 cone crops, and successfully caged cones and collected seeds from 52 trees at 5 locations: (1) Kidprice Lake in Nenikekh/Nanika-Kidprice Provincial Park (12 trees); (2) Jonas Creek in the Telkwa Mountains (12 trees), (3) Eagle Pass in Babine Mountains Provincial Park (10 trees + 1 large squirrel cache); (4) Ganokwa Ridge in Babine Mountains Provincial Park (4 trees); (5) Hudson Bay Mountain (14 trees). Other than at Hudson Bay Mountain (training day, so we selected the closest, easiest trees), these trees were either free of blister rust or had only minor inactive cankers within stands that were heavily infested, suggesting that they could potentially be blister rust resistant. Don Pigott, a provincial cone collecting contractor gave a 1-day cone caging and seed collecting training course that was attended by 10 volunteers and 2 workers. His time was contributed to the project as an in-kind donation from BC Tree Improvement Branch. Fortuitously, a professional tree climber lives in Smithers and was available to work on our project at a reasonable daily rate (higher than budgeted, but we got extra funds from Tree Improvement Branch & MEC–see above). The trees at several sites were much taller and more difficult to climb than we had anticipated. Having a professional climber available made the project much safer and more efficient than if newly trained volunteers had to climb the tallest trees in exposed conditions. We were also incredibly lucky that Jodie Krakowski provincial forest geneticist relocated to Burns Lake and volunteered her holiday time to assist us in selecting and caging trees and collecting and processing cones. Her expertise was invaluable in making highly technical decisions regarding tree selection, record keeping and cone processing. We were given the use of a large heated well-ventilated rodent-proof space by BV Research Centre director Brian Edmison (Edmison Mehr CA) for cone drying and storage. Seed extraction was a very labour intensive process that took up the entire month of November. Six volunteers from the BV Research Centre, BV Naturalists and BV Backpackers contributed an estimated 60 hours of labour to seed extraction.


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Table 1. Disposition of whitebark pine seeds collected in 2011.

Purpose Gene conservation

Mycorrhizal research

Restoration of Bear Habitat

Total

Agency FLNRO Tree Improvement Branch (Surrey Seed Centre)

UNBC (Dr. Hugues Massicotte & Linda Tackaberry)

BVRC Stratified & sown at Woodmere Nursery

BVRC Remaining dry seed in local storage

Number of seedlots (trees or bulked lots)

31 7 25 9 40

Estimated number of seeds

15,250 700 6,900 8,130 30,980

Percentage 49% 2% 22% 26% 100%

2. To successfully regenerate at least 1000 whitebark pine seedlings from seed over 5 years in high value, recently burned or MPB-killed bear habitat and protect these seedlings from competing vegetation and other damage. We sowed 500 stratified seeds from the Fort St. John area (2007 Mt. Sidney Williams provenance) in summer 2011 at 2 trial sites in the Gosnell Creek wildfire. 20% of these seeds germinated in summer 2011. We expect additional germination in the 2nd year as whitebark pine seeds often after-ripen in the soil. We have approximately 8000 dry seeds remaining in storage. Some of these will be used for direct seeding in 2012 based on overwintering success of the 2011 seeding trial. 3. To successfully produce 500 – 1500 nursery-grown whitebark pine seedlings per year over 5 years (it takes 2-4 years to produce a seedling ready for outplanting). We stratified ~6900 seeds from 25 seedlots following procedures adapted from Don Pigott (Yellowpoint Propagation), Linda Tackaberry (UNBC) and Vicky Berger (FLNRO tree improvement branch). The seeds received 1 month warm stratification followed by 12 weeks cold stratification and were rinsed and/or soaked in H202 at 1-2 week intervals to prevent moulding. Originally, we expected that the nursery or seed centre would do the stratification for us but it was too labour intensive, so the work was done by the project leader with assistance from a BV Research Centre student researcher. This is a very fussy procedure and required a lot of equipment. On April 15, 2012 the seeds were sown in styroblock containers at Woodmere Nursery. Woodmere nursery will grow the seedlings for 2-4 years until they are large enough for outplanting. This is their first time growing whitebark pine so it will be a learning process. 4. To successfully establish 100 (2011) to 1500 whitebark pine seedlings per year over five years within high value, recently-burned or MPB-killed bear habitat.


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Figure 1. Gosnell Creek watershed showing approximate location of the 2010 wildfire and the Joshua Rd. and Crystal Rd.whitebark pine restoration trial sites.

Joshua Rd site(on glaciofluvial terrace)

Crystal Rd site(on rocky knoll)

Crystal Rd. turnoff

Gosnell Ck. bridge

Approximate boundary of 2010 wildfire(spotty)

Joshua Rd. turnoff


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We outplanted 100 UNBC seedlings of mixed non-local provenance (50 seedlings each) at two trial sites (km 14 Crystal Road, ESSFmk/02a site series; Koshua Road ESSFmk/02b site series) in the 2010 Gosnell Wildfire (Figure 1) immediately after snowmelt provided access to the two sites June 9-11, 2011. Seedlings were marked with flags and aluminum tags. We selected a variety of planting microsites and filled half of the planting holes with soil from a healthy whitebark pine tree to provide mycorrhizal inoculum (L. Tackaberry, UNBC unpublished data found that whitebark soil greatly improved growth compared to nursery soil). Seedling height, basal diameter (caliper), microsite, soils and seedling condition were recorded shortly after planting and seedling locations were mapped using GPS and bearing and distance (compass and 50 m tape). We relocated and remeasured each seedling on October 26, 2011. At the time of planting there was no competing vegetation at the severely burned Crystal Road site. At the Joshua Road lightly burned site we removed subalpine fir seedlings that were within 50 cm radius of planted trees. It was a very cool and rainy summer. None of the seedlings died, including one that was uprooted by a bear and replanted. Vigour was mostly good and similar to at the time of outplanting. Seedling height increment averaged 1.1 cm, and diameter increment was negligible (within the margin of measurement error). Whitebark pine seedlings focus on root growth in the first year (L. Tackaberry, pers. comm.). There was no difference in abovd-ground growth between the two sites, between the inoculated or uninoculated seedlings, or between microsites. Unexpectedly, there was abundant growth of weeds in the seedling plugs (dandelion, hawkweed, yarrow etc) from seed dispersal at the parking lot at UNBC where the seedlings had been heeled in for the previous year. We had cleaned off the plugs prior to planting and removed some of the new weed growth in October but will have to do additional manual weeding in summer 2012. We do not want these weeds to establish at the two trial sites which originally had no invasive plant species. 5. To successfully regenerate >20 hectares of endangered whitebark pine ecosystems over a 5 year period. The area planted and seeded in 2011 covered approximately 2 ha on two sites in the Gosnell Ck.wildfire. The trees are grouped in widely spaced clumps on appropriate microsites within this area, similar to how they would grow in nature. Whitebark pine is a very slow-growing tree and it will be some time before we know if we have “successfully regenerated” these wildfires to whitebark pine. We expect heavy mortality from blister rust from these early seedlings that have not been screened for blister rust resistance.

8. BENEFITS/RISKS

As a result of this year’s work, the expected return is that 2 ha of land will successfully regenerate to a mixed stand containing whitebark pine, and that we will produce perhaps 1000 seedlings for future outplanting (we have no idea yet of seed germination rates or successful seedling survival in the nursery). The BC Tree Improvement bank now includes 3 northwest BC sites each with 10 more-or-less rust-free parent trees in its whitebark pine gene conservation bank. An unexpected side benefit of the project is that 2 BC Parks employees were able to accompany us into Nenikekh/Nanika-Kidprice Provincial Park on our chartered Otter in October 2011 to do some maintenance work and remove some large garbage items on the flight out. Thus we were able to pay them back for the free flight we received through the BC Float Plane association to scope out


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the Nanika wildfire restoration and cone collection sites in July 2010 and to continue our mutually beneficial partnership. Risks & Negative side effects: (1) we may have inadvertently introduced non-native weed species (Taraxacum officinale, Crepis sp., Hieracium sp.) into the Gosnell Creek wildfire. This is not a provincial park and such species are probably found along the access road. (2) outplanting success may be low; seed germination rates may be low; Seedlings may not be blister rust resistant. (3) we had to be careful not to disturb Mountain Goat calving sites above Ganokwa Canyon near the boundary of Babine Mountains Provincial Park. We arrived in the area by helicopter in early July to inspect cone crops and later installed cone cages on foot along the ridge (late July-October). We checked with BC Parks to ensure that our activities did not disturb calving and were informed that July was okay. 9. EXTENSION/PUBLIC INFORMATION/PARTICIPATION/PARTNERS

Information on the project has been posted on the BV Research Centre website http://bvcentre.ca/research/project/restoring_endangered_whitebark_pine_ecosystems_of_west_central_british_colu/).

Alana Clason presented a brief overview of our project at the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation of Canada annual meeting in Lillooet,BC July 14-15, 2011.

Kerrith McKay prepared a poster on our project for the BC Protected Areas Research Forum at UBC, Vancouver, BC, Dec. 5-6, 2011 .

Sybille Haeussler was presented with the Volunteer of the Year award for her work on the Whitebark pine Restoration project at the BV Research Centre annual meeting in Smithers, March 26, 2012.

Alana Clason won 2nd prize in the BC Volunteer week photo contest for a photo showing NWCC student volunteer Courtney Berdan and BVRC volunteer Sybille Haeussler planting whitebark pine seedlings in the Gosnell Creek wildfire (http://volunteerphotocontest.tumblr.com/). We have been interviewed for the Smithers Interior News and expect a news story to appear in the Apr 25, 2012 edition.

We worked closely with BC Parks Smithers Office, FLNRO Smithers Research Group, Nanika District and Tree Improvement Branch throughout the seed collection and planting period and communicated our progress by email. The Gosnell Wildfire restoration sites are being registered/gazetted as Forest Research “EP”s.

We worked closely with BV Naturalists and BV Backpackers community groups throughout the summer by email and word of mouth and had 10 members of these two groups participate in cage construction (6 hours), cone caging (65 hrs), seed collection (3 hrs), seed extraction(3 hrs) and recording Clark’s Nutcracker observations. The BV Backpackers were particularly enthusiastic about our work and a short article and photo describing the cone collection project appeared in the BV Backpackers summer 2011 newsletter circulated to members (unfortunately, not posted on their website as the website just went live in Fall 2011).

http://bvcentre.ca/research/project/restoring_endangered_whitebark_pine_ecosystems_of_west_central_british_colu/

http://bvcentre.ca/research/project/restoring_endangered_whitebark_pine_ecosystems_of_west_central_british_colu/

http://volunteerphotocontest.tumblr.com/


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We worked closely with the Office of the Wet’suwet’en (OW) in Smithers,BC as they are project partners and have a strong interest in whitebark pine conservation in the Morice area Provincial Parks and surrounding territories, communicating by email and phone. OW Resource Manager Mike Ridsdale participated in our Cone Collection workshop and helped cage cones on Hudson Bay Mountain. We are currently assisting the OW and Wetzinkwa Community Forest by supplying photos and information on whitebark pine ecology for an interpretive sign that will be erected at the Silvern Lakes trailhead information centre in Summer 2012.

We posted a small paper information sign about whitebark pine conservation at our cone caging sites at the Hudson Bay Mtn ski area and have had informal conversations with members of the public who use the ski area during the summer months.

There have been no reported negative reactions to the project so far, though some hikers have been curious about the cone cages in Babine Mountains Provincial Park.

10. PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORD

Photo 2. John Kelson installing cone cages on a whitebark pine tree at Jonas Creek near Telkwa, BC.. July 2011. (photo credit. S. Haeussler).


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Photo 3: NWCC volunteer Courtney Berdan and BVRC volunteer Sybille Haeussler planting whitebark pine seedlings at the Gosnell Creek wildfire, June 2011. Photo by Alana Clason. This photo won 2

nd

prize the the BCVolunteerWeek photo contest http://volunteerphotocontest.tumblr.com/

Photo 4: Whitebark pine cone-caging workshop on Hudson Bay Mtn. July 2011. Participants include project coordinator Kerrith McKay (2

nd from left) and tree climber John Kelson (far right), four BV

Backpackers volunteers (Jay Gilden, Elaine Edmison, Dina Hanson, and unnamed). Mike Ridsdale, Office of Wetsuweten (3

rd from left); BVRC researcher Alana Clason (5

th from right) and BVRC project

leader/volunteer Sybille Haeussler (3rd

from right). Photo taken by Don Pigott. Permission obtained by all participants.

http://volunteerphotocontest.tumblr.com/


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Photo 5. Newly planted whitebark pine seedling at Gosnell Creek wildfire. June 2011. (photo credit S. Haeussler). Photo 6. Whitebark pine cones from Eagle Pass, Babine Mountains Provincial Park drying prior to seed extraction. (Photo credit S. Haeussler).


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Photo 7. Extracted and dried whitebark pine seeds from 3 locations. November 2011. (Photo credit S. Haeussler) . Photo 8. Whitebark pine seeds in cold stratification. January 2012 (photo credit S. Haeussler) Photo 9. Early germinant in the lab. March 2012. (photo credit. S. Haeussler)

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