Wenatchee Valley Chapter Native Plant Society: White pine blister rust & whitebark pine in Washington

The Wenatchee Valley Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society presents:

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) has a long, complicated history with the tree disease white pine blister rust, which is caused by the non-native pathogen Cronartium ribicola. White pine blister rust is one of several disturbance agents that threaten the health and persistence of whitebark pine across North America. This presentation will discuss the biology and epidemiology of C. ribicola, the distribution of the disease in Washington, and how we incorporate natural genetic resistance to the disease into whitebark pine restoration efforts.

Speaker Biography:

Betsy Goodrich is a Plant Pathologist with USDA Forest Service Forest Health Protection (FHP) stationed at the Wenatchee Service Center in Wenatchee. Betsy’s interest in Forest Pathology began with white pine blister rust surveys across Colorado and Wyoming in 2003 and it has been a passion ever since. Betsy arrived in Wenatchee in 2015 following a Ph.D. in Forest Science from Northern Arizona University and an M.S. in Ecology from Colorado State University. The Region 6 FHP program is responsible providing technical assistance, identification, monitoring, training and education on forest insects and diseases to federal resource managers across Oregon and Washington.

More info about Wenatchee Valley Chapter of the WA Native Plant Society here