2012 Ulm Peak WBP Planting
Project: Ulm Peak Whitebark Pine Planting
Attachment: IdahoPanhandle_Jerman_2012_UlmPeakWBP_2013_PlantingSites
Agency/Forest or Park/District: Coeur d’Alene River Ranger District, Idaho Panhandle National Forest, Idaho
Project coordinator: Jason Jerman
Contact: Jason Jerman, District Silviculturist, 2502 E. Sherman Ave, Coeur d‟Alene, ID 83814, 208-769-3027, jjerman@fs.fed.us
Cooperators USFS
Source of funding /amount
FHP: $1,300
Supplemental funding: $900 from FS
Dates of restoration efforts
Summer 2012
Objectives
Re-establish whitebark pine trees following stand replacement fire (Ulm Peak Fire in 2006). This fire resulted in 99% + mortality of existing mature WBP trees.
Acres/ha treated
5 acres, 1,500 seedlings (per Sidnee Dittmann, these seedlings are available for 2012 fall plant)
Methods
Hand planting of container stock, utilizing microsites only
Planting? If so, source of seedlings? Resistance?
Yes. The source seed lot is FREEZEOUT10, which is a bulk seed lot collected from on the St. Joe Ranger District of the Idaho Panhandle National Forests and were processed and stored at the USFS Coeur d’Alene Nursery. Rust screening of this seed source is in process therefore resistance has not yet been quantified.
Outcome
In winter 2012: project incomplete. Fall conditions are too dry for planting. Seedlings will be packed for late spring planting in FY2013.
In the fall of 2013, 800 container seedlings were planted on two sites for approximately 4 acres, south of the Ulm Peak RNA with in the Ulm Peak fire scar. Seedlings were grown 2 years in the green house in 98 cells (≈ 7.5 cubic inch plugs). Planting was completed by USFS employees and microsites (down logs or stumps) were utilized as shade and protection for all seedlings. Planting was stopped due to unfavorable weather (snow) leaving 378 seedlings unplanted. The left over seedlings were returned to the Coeur d’Alene nursery and stored frozen over the winter. We are planning to plant the remaining seedlings as soon as we can reach the planting site again in the late spring (probably mid-June, 2014).
Monitoring since completion of the project No monitoring has been completed as yet because 2014 will be the first on site growing season for the seedlings.
Dates
Plans for future monitoring?
First year survival surveys will be completed in the fall of 2014.
Third year survival surveys will be completed in the fall of 2016.
Will outcome meet goals?
At this time, it is expected that we will have good survival due to high soil moisture contents and readily available microsites at the time of planting which should result in the establishment of new whitebark pine within the Ulm Peak fire area. As rust screening is completed we will have another indication of the likelihood of meeting the goal of re-establishing whitebark pine on this site over the long term.
Future actions/follow up?
Assess the results of the rust screening. Monitor survival and stand density over time.
Miscellaneous comments
2012 fall planting season comments: No appreciable precipitation since the middle of July resulting in very dry soils this fall. Now there is hard frost occurring nightly. These conditions would likely result in significant mortality if planting were completed this fall season.
Rust Screening status of FREEZOUT10 as of February 2014:
It was inoculated in Sept 2012 and 4 replications of 36 seedlings each were planted in our rust screening beds at the Nursery in May 2013. It has been inspected twice for development of blister rust symptoms and any signs of resistance mechanisms. 3rd inspection will be Sept 2014 and final inspection Sept 2015. Data will be analyzed and the best rust free trees (5 yrs old) will be tagged lifted and planted June/July 2016 in a long-term genetic performance test at Gold Pass on the Avery District. So this lot has received a lot of attention as far as rust screening goes. Stay tuned for the final results in 2016.