Hungry Horse news., 1954-08-27
Glacier Saves Pine
In Blister Rust
Control Program

Insect and fungus infestations,
more serious than fire to the fu-
ture of western forests, sees Gla-
cier National Park completing its
18th season fighting blister rust.
Threatened in this fungus infes-
tation are all five needle pines in
Guiding the valuable commercial
white pine trees of the Northwest.
In Glacier the blister rust cam
paigns started in 1888, and has
been to save selected stands of
white bark, timber pine and west
ern white pine.
AT OLD MAN LAKE
Center of the control project has
been the Old Man lake section at
the head of Two Medicine drain
age near the continental divide.
Here near timber line grow
white bark and timber pine, trees
that have little commercial worth,
but species that are less common
ly found in pure stands. Idea in
Glacier has been to preserve the
species, and control has included
the Two Medicine, Lake McDon-
aid, St. Mary and headquarters
area as well as Old Man lake.
Blister rust was first discovered
in Russia in 1854. 1t spread across
western Europe, and in 1898 was
introduced into the United States
with nursery stock from Europe,
according to "The War on White
Pine Blister Rust in the Inland
Empire" published by the U. S.
Forest Service.
In 1910 the disease was intro
dured at Vancouver, Wash, on
nursery stock from France. In 1927
and 1928 it was found in eastern
Washington and northern Idaho
forests, and then into Montana.
An active control program be-
came necessary to safeguard the
white pine lumber industry. Thou
sands of men were employed in
control work throughout the In
land Empire.
Al Cannavina, Glacie Nation
al Park assistant = .9ss ranger, has
headed the parks blister rust pro-
gram since 1941.
In 1889 and 1910 there were
nearly 200 men at work in the
park on the project. Now crews are
down to 20 men summer. Their
Job is to eradicate currant bushes,
Key to the disease.
DEADLY POWDER
The five needle pine killer is
described as orange colored tall
.um powder like spores that en-
er the pine through the needles
md grow in the inner bark. From
me to three years after infection
becomes visible as a reddish
rown discoloration of the bark
ccompanied by slight swelling.
After one or two years, additional :
mall whitish sacs burst through
ne diseased bark in the spring.
hese sacs or blisters break open
berating an orange colored rust
-hich consists of millions of tiny
pores which are scattered in the
ind to infect currant and goose
erry bushes.
The spores from the trees can :
'avel up to 200 miles to the host
lrrant bushes. One tree cannot
fleet another. t.
Next development is the spore C
ON the tree injecting the leaves j
{ a currant bush. Then appears g
le key to controlling the disease. S
he spores produced on the bushes
re short-lived, and can only trav- q
about 200 yards. To continue the
fe cycle they must find a five II
eedle pine. IA
Control as a result has become =
radication of currant bushes. = =
Young men in Glacier work :,
lroughout the summer marking u
ut areas with plain cotton string,
nd then proceeding to eliminate
II currant bushes through chemi- 2
al treatment and handwork. q
This years crew working in
lacier in the Two Medicine and ~
(Please turn to page 4)