Rediscovering home: Superior Ranger District
Bruce Moats
Ranchers carefully select their herds for the best genetics. Who knew that the Forest Service does much the same with trees.
Abigail “Abby” Lane, Superior District Ranger, told me in an interview Friday geneticists at the nursery in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho, identify trees of “superior quality.” They place nets under these super trees and knock the cones off the trees.
To collect white bark pinecones, a “keystone species,” employees actually climb the trees. The white bark pine is one of my favorite trees, growing tall and straight. However, the tree is identified as a threatened species. Lane explained white bark pine is susceptible to the mountain pine beetle and tends to grow in tough conditions – rocky areas above 6,000 feet.
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