WASHINGTON (CN) - The whitebark pine, a high-elevation conifer that often marks the tree line of the mountains of the West, may be endangered or threatened, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The agency has announced that the application to protect the tree under the Endangered Species Act contains sufficient information to proceed with a full-year review.
The whitebark pine often is found dwarfed by exposure and growing close to the ground, high up on Western U.S. and Canadian mountains. It occurs specifically in the subalpine areas of the Sierra Nevada, the Cascade Range, the Pacific Coast Ranges, and the northern Rocky Mountains (including the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem).
The agency requests scientific and commercial data on the species, to continue its review.
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