Success stories from the Environmental Damages Fund

Across the Canadian Rocky Mountains and foothills, you’ll find more than iconic mountain landscapes. You’ll find species that quietly sustain ecosystem health and biodiversity. Two five-needled pines, Whitebark Pine and Limber Pine, are both critically important tree species in Canada’s western mountains. Their large, nutritious seeds provide an important food source for many animals in the alpine community, including grizzly bears and black bears, various birds, and squirrels. As keystone species, they also help shape and support entire ecosystems, creating habitat, stabilizing soils, and pioneering growth in harsh alpine environments.

These trees have a highly specialized, finely tuned relationship with the Clark’s nutcracker, a bird whose behaviour is essential to their survival and regeneration in high mountain ecosystems. But why? Clark’s nutcrackers collect seeds from Whitebark and Limber Pines and store them across the mountains and foothills as a food source. However, they don’t always return to every hidden seed. These forgotten seeds can eventually grow into new Whitebark and Limber Pines! In many ways, Clark’s nutcrackers are nature’s best tree planters, meticulously catching thousands of seeds each year across rugged mountain terrain and, unintentionally, planting the next generation of Whitebark and Limber Pines.

Whitebark and Limber pines directly benefit humans too. Many people have experienced the beauty of these trees while hiking or skiing, where their twisted trunks are as much a part of the landscape as the mountains themselves. More importantly, these species mitigate the effects of an increasingly unpredictable climate by moderating snowmelt, supporting watershed health and stability, and by preventing erosion.

Today, these critical species are facing rapid decline, under pressure from multiple threats: an invasive fungal disease known as white pine blister rust, mountain pine beetles, changes in wildfire patterns, and an increasing unpredictable climate. 

To conserve, restore, and recover these environmentally important trees, the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation of Canada (WPEFC) has stepped up to lead and coordinate efforts across Canada. The WPEFC has received $1.575 million in funding from the Government of Canada’s Environmental Damages Fund to lead this five-year project which is supporting the restoration and recovery of these endangered ecosystems in the Canadian Rocky Mountains and Foothills, using a science-based, hands-on approach.

“Whitebark and Limber pines often live high in the mountains, far from cities and towns. Many Canadians don’t know of these trees or how endangered they’ve become,” said Nick Pochailo, Program Manager for WPEFC. “It’s always special to see people’s reaction when they learn about these species for the first time.”

As part of the project, WPEFC has significantly expanded mapping efforts and developed a restoration planning toolkit tailored to the unique Canadian Rocky Mountain region, which now helps identify and treat priority restoration areas and increase the number of healthy, disease-resistant trees on the landscape. Restoration activities are already underway and will cover over 600 hectares throughout the Rockies and Foothills - that’s almost the size of 600 Canadian football fields!

WPEFC, and its partners at Parks Canada, are working hard to plant 250,000 five-needled pines, treat high-value trees to protect them from mountain pine beetle, and collect cones from trees with demonstrated resistance to invasive white pine blister rust, helping to produce disease-resistant seedlings which are planted on the landscape. To harvest the seeds, WPEFC cone collectors must carefully climb to the treetops, which can range from 3 metres to 20 metres tall – not just once, but twice! They first climb in the spring to affix cages over the cones, so that the seeds are not all eaten by wildlife. Then they go back again in the late fall once the cones have developed and ripened, and the seeds are viable.

“This unique project provides an opportunity to teach people about the important relationships these trees have with other species, the threats they face, and their importance within their majestic mountain landscapes,” said Pochailo. “This makes it critically important to restore these ecosystems, before it’s too late.”

For over thirty years, more than $275 million has been invested in over 600 projects benefitting ecosystems and communities across Canada. The Environmental Damages Fund, a Government of Canada program administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada directs monies received from fines, penalties, court orders and voluntary payments to priority projects that will benefit Canada’s natural environment. The Fund aims to invest in areas where the environmental damage occurred, turning environmental violations into real, positive outcomes for communities across Canada.

To learn more about this project, visit Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation of Canada