Volunteers Plant Limber Pine Seedlings in Rocky Mountain National Park

NPS Photo

This month, Rocky Mountain National Park has partnered with the Rocky Mountain Conservancy to host a limber pine planting project. Over seven days, approximately 70 volunteers worked with NPS staff to plant 1,769 seedlings in an area of the park that was impacted by the 2020 East Troublesome fire.

Limber pine is a Species of Management Concern within RMNP due to the important role this tree plays in its ecosystem. Limber pines provides food for wildlife, improves soil stability, and promotes snow retention. Additionally, the park’s population of limber pines has some of the highest genetic resistance to white pine blister rust, a fungus that causes high levels of mortality across five-needle pines, including limber pine. About one-fifth of limber pines in Rocky show resistance to this disease. By supporting RMNP's limber pines through planting efforts such as these, the NPS is helping maintain a special population of trees that can withstand the challenges of disease.

Photo Courtesy G.Hughes

Seeds collected from limber pines in the park were sent to a growing facility to germinate into seedlings before being returned to the park for planting. The seedlings were planted during October to give them the best chance of survival—snow will provide them with the moisture necessary to grow, while also protecting these young trees from the wind.

Using GIS technology, the planting location of each limber pine seedling was recorded, ensuring that staff would be able to return to the planting site in the future to track their survival rate and growth.

This project was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Rocky Mountain Conservancy, Rocky Mountain National Park's primary philanthropic partner.

We would like to thank all of the volunteers who helped with this project for their time and service. This planting project could not have been accomplished without the help of our amazing volunteers!