Mice and voles eat the seedlings. Red squirrels clip twigs and feed on vegetative and reproductive buds in the spring. Consumption of leaders and the ends of upper branches by red squirrels tends to be greatest during poor cone crop years. Seed a primary food of red squirrels, which prefer it over Black Spruce seed. Seeds are nutritious and a good energy source for red squirrels which can survive the winter on a diet consisting entirely of White Spruce seeds.
Red squirrels are so dependent that population density is directly related to seed crop cycles.
Spruce grouse feed entirely on spruce needles during winter. Numerous seed-eating birds feed on seed. Poles were used to construct dwellings, and bark was used as roofing material. Thin, straight, pliable roots were used as rope. Pitch, watery sap, and extracts from boiled needles were used for various medicinal purposes.