Standing Up to Timber Bullies

Rare white pines in the Southwest are under siege. In addition to threats from a deadly disease and the rapidly warming climate, they are being cut down by the U.S. Forest Service under the pretext of preventing wildfires. Shaun Sanchez, Supervisor of the 1.5 million acre Santa Fe National Forest, could  be their unlikely savior. But only if he can stand up to the timber bullies.

Sanchez, born and raised in northern New Mexico, came from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to shake things up after an intentional burn on the Santa Fe went awry in 2022 resulting in the largest wildfire in New Mexico history. Soon thereafter he learned — unlike other Southwestern National Forests — the Santa Fe had failed to protect its white pine population in their newly revised forest plan. Trump's logging mandates, the revised plan’s call to increase logging by 150 percent and staffing cuts have made updating the forest plan to protect white pine a low priority.

In the meantime, white pine blister rust, an exotic disease introduced to North America from Europe in the early 1900s, is making its way down the spine of the Rockies. It has nearly eliminated the majestic western white pine from many coastal forests in the Pacific Northwest and is the principle reason in 2022 that the high-elevation white bark pine was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Southwestern white pine, a cousin to the listed whitebark pine, could soon join the endangered ranks.

The good news is that natural disease resistance is high in trees grown from seed collected in New Mexico’s national forests. After 7.5 years of experimental exposure to blister rust spores, three populations had a greater than 70% survival rates representing perhaps the highest level of resistance documented to date in a North American white pine species.

Also, white pines in the Southwest appear to be adapting to the warming climate. Closely related Southwestern white pine (Pinus strobiformis) and limber pine (Pinus flexilis) are hybridizing and moving north. This expanding hybrid zone combines limber pine’s greater cold tolerance with Southwestern white pine’s ability to better withstand drought.

Natural adaption is lost, of course, when white pines are cut down as “fuel.” Removing white pines to prevent fires echoes the tragic loss of American Chestnuts to chestnut blight in the 1920s when the remaining genetically resistant “redwoods of the east” were cut down for their valuable wood. Rust resistant western white pines were similarly removed from the forests of the Pacific Northwest for their economic value when the Forest Service accelerated logging in the 1960s.

Not repeating history means standing up to bullies. The question is — can one man save a beautiful tree from extinction if we have his back? Let him know:  Shaun.Sanchez@usda.gov Watch this video to learn more.

Sam Hitt founded Forest Guardians (now WildEarth Guardians) in 1989. Before that he led a campaign that stopped pesticide spraying for western spruce budworm in Southwestern National Forests. He founded Santa Fe Forest Coalition in 2017 to counter the logging policies of the first Trump administration. A dedicated gardener, he sold produce at local Farmers Markets for more than a decade and still maintains a large vegetable and ornamental garden. He graduated from St. John’s College in Santa Fe, N.M in 1970 with a B.A. in the Great Books.