Status of Whitebark Pine in Crater Lake National Park, Oregon, 2000
INTRODUCTION
Regional Surveys
Current knowledge of blister rust on whitebark pine in the Cascades is very rudimentary owing to little formal investigation. The disease was documented in the vicinity of the Park as early as 1935 (USDA 1949), however records of damage to whitebark pine are not clear. Bedwell and Childs (1943) observed no diseased whitebark pine south of Mt. Jefferson. Hoff and Hagle (1990) reported that between 52 and 100 percent of whitebark pine in the North Cascades have been infected since 1937. More recently, Hadfield and others (1996) documented 20 percent infection in Washington’s Cascades.
During the summer of 1998, a survey effort determined an average of 52 percent of living whitebark pine were infected immediately north of the Park boundary extending along the Pacific Crest Trail to the southern boundary of the Willamette National Forest (Goheen and others 1999). More work by Goheen was conducted during the summer of 2000 with some sampling inside the Park, however results are not yet reported. A survey initiated by the National Park Service in 1999 found no blister rust present on whitebark pine in the Cloucap – Mt. Scott area (Donahue 2000). Correspondingly, Bachelor Butte, located about 70 miles to the north, was reported to have “very light “ incidence (Lueck 1980).
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