Pinaceae -- Pine Family

    Stephen F. Arno and Raymond J. Hoff

    Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) is a slow-growing,  long-lived tree of the high mountains of southwestern Canada and western  United States. It is of limited commercial use, but it is valued for  watershed protection and esthetics. Its seeds are an important food for  grizzly bears and other wildlife of the high mountains. Concern about the  species has arisen because in some areas whitebark pine cone crops have  diminished as a result of successional replacement and insect and disease  epidemics (6,48).