Whitebark pine in Chelan and Okanogan counties is threatened, US says

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Exposing the Big Game's avatarThe Extinction Chronicles

white bark
FILE – In this 2013 photo, cone collectors like Gabe Thorne, of Hamilton, head up into the high country around the west to climb to the very top of whitebark pine and collect cones from disease-free trees in Sula, Mont. U.S. officials say climate change, beetles and a deadly fungus are imperiling the long-term survival of the high-elevation tree found in the western U.S. (Perry Backus/Ravalli Republic via AP, File)Perry Backus

Whitebark pine trees can live more than 1,000 years, but in just two decades more than a quarter of the trees that are a key food source for some grizzly bears have been killed by disease, climate change, wildfires and voracious beetles, government officials said as they announced federal protections Wednesday.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will designate whitebark pine as threatened…

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