Summer 2007
White Pine Initiative

The Quetico Superior Foundation’s recently announced initiative to restore the white pine tree to healthy and sustainable populations within the Quetico Superior region got off to a fast start in May. Before the ground had cooled from the Ham Lake fire, the Foundation had arranged for the donation of 6,000 seedling trees and paid for shipping them to the Gunflint Trail Scenic Byway Committee for planting by volunteers over the Memorial Day weekend.

Why replant white pine?
The great white pine and red pine forests of the Quetico Superior region were logged off by the turn of the 20th century. The remnants of white pine that remain today are not sufficient in number to be sustainable. White pine blister rust, pine weevils and deer predation are killing thousands of white pine trees each year. The remaining mature trees cannot produce the numbers of seeds needed to remain a sustainable species in the Superior National Forest. Today, only about 25% of seedlings survive to become successful seed sources themselves. Many experts believe the only way to restore the white pine is to plant huge numbers of trees to numerically increase the reseeding, maturation and survival of the species.

The 2007 goal of the initiative: to distribute and plant 1 million seeds, which could conservatively yield 100,000 mature trees in 20 years, is well underway. Ten pounds of white pine seeds (275,000 seeds) were distributed to youth camps, cabin owners associations and individuals this spring. In early May, when the ground
was moist and accepting, Dyke Williams and the Wilderness Canoe Base planted
2 pounds or 55,000 seeds around the burned over areas near Seagull Lake. The next period for successful seeding will occur in late fall, prior to the first snow. Information on how and when to successfully plant white pine can be obtained from the Foundation. Jack Rajala’s informative book, Bring Back the White Pine, is also available through the Foundation at $15 a copy.

For more information contact Dyke Williams, Project Manager; by email at Auldbear@aol.com.

Read more about the white pine in the Quetico Superior Region, in Wilderness News Summer 2006 PDF (226 K) >

This story originally published in Wilderness News.
Download the issue: Wilderness News Summer 2007 PDF (356 K)