FUNDING ALERT

There is NO WPEF Restoration Funding available at this time.  We will send out a request for proposals in the near future.

The need for whitebark pine restoration management actions is growing more urgent in the northern Rocky Mountains of the U.S., where long-term blister rust presence and mountain pine beetle outbreaks are threatening the pine with local extirpation.  To insure a future for whitebark pine in this geographical region, the most pressing need is for dependable restoration funding NOW , while we can still identify and protect potentially rust-resistant trees. 

The WPEF was working with Senator Conrad Burns and his staffers to raise the awareness of restoration needs for whitebark pine in Region 1.  We were invited by Senator Burns to submit a federal funding application.  We have submitted the application, which proposes about $8 million in funding over 8 to 10 years for Montana, northern Idaho, and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in Wyoming expressly for whitebark pine restoration.  Forest Health Protection, Region 1, would administer the funds, with direction from an inter-agency committee.  We have been informed that the Senator is strongly supporting this funding application. We have had meetings or phone conversations with staffers for the other Montana delegates and staffers for both the Idaho and Wyoming delegations.  At this time, we have been informed that Senator Baucus (D-MT) and Senator Enzi (R-WY) will support this funding application, and we are hoping for support from other delegates as well.  We are also notifying the federal agencies involved that this funding application exists, a key element to the success of this process.  We are late for the 2007 budget, but believe that at the very least we are laying groundwork for 2008.  We have just heard that the application will be considered in late June by the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee.