Management Guidelines for Whitebark and Limber Pine on the Wyoming Bureau of Land Management Sensitive Species List

United States Department of the Interior
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
Wyoming State Office
P.O. Box 1828
IN REPLY REFER TO: Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009-1828
6843 (930) P
5860 (930)
October 15, 2010
EMS TRANSMISSION: October 21, 2010
Instruction Memorandum No. WY-2011-003
Expires: 09/30/2012
To: District Managers
From: State Director
Subject: Management Guidelines for Whitebark and Limber Pine on the Wyoming Bureau
of Land Management Sensitive Species List.
Program Areas: Forestry, Threatened and Endangered Species
Purpose: This Instruction Memorandum (IM) establishes guidelines for the management of
whitebark and limber pine on Wyoming Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administered
lands.
Background: Both the whitebark and limber pine are five needle pine species that are being
severely impacted by mountain pine beetle infestations, white pine blister rust infections and by
climate change. On July 20, 2010, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a positive 90-day
finding on a petition to list the whitebark pine as threatened or endangered under the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended, and to designate critical habitat. The recently updated
Wyoming BLM Special Status Species list (IM No. WY-2010-027) included both of these
species. The primary criterion for their inclusion was information that these species are
undergoing a downward trend such that species’ viability or a distinct population segment of the
species is at risk, in accordance with BLM Manual 6840.
There are inherent differences in managing such geographically wide-spread tree species
compared with the manner in which BLM traditionally manages Special Status Species. The
location of Wyoming BLM’s five needle pine ecosystems provides an opportunity to manage
these woodlands to restore or maintain them on the landscape and still meet multiple resource
objectives. Recently, ecologists have identified a suite of effective management strategies for
maintaining and restoring these species on the landscape.
Policy/Action: In cases where active management of vegetative resources involves, or may
impact, the whitebark or limber pines, management guidelines in Attachment 1 should be
followed (Whitebark and Limber Pine (Five Needle Pine) Management Guidelines for Wyoming
BLM).
Time Frame: This IM is effective upon issuance.
Budget Impact: There are no anticipated budgetary impacts.
Coordination: This IM has been coordinated with the Districts, the BLM Idaho and Montana
State Offices, the Rocky Mountain Research Station (Fort Collins, Colorado, and Missoula,
Montana) and several academic specialists in silviculture and ecology.
Contact: Questions regarding this IM should be directed to Bob Means (307) 775-6287,
Forestry Program Lead; or Tyler Abbott (307) 775-6090, Threatened and Endangered Species
Program Lead.
Signed by: Authenticated by:
Donald A. Simpson Pamela D. Hernandez
State Director Secretary, Division of Support Services
2 Attachments:
1 - Whitebark and Limber Pine (Five Needle Pine) Management Guidelines for Wyoming
BLM (10 p)
2 - Whitebark Pine and Limber Pine Identification (1 p)
Distribution
Director (200) Room 3326, MIB 1 w/atch.
CF 1 w/atch.