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Tree Campus: Lodgepole Pine

Tree Campus SCC is a multi-year and interdisciplinary college initiative to document, map, and celebrate the incredible diversity of trees planted on the campus. With over 200 species, Shoreline Community College is an arboreal paradise that deserves to b

Title

Lodgepole Pine

Pinus contorta var. latifolia (PINACEAE)

Description and Range

Description and Range

Lodgepole pine is a conifer typically found around 100 ft. tall with 1 ½ - 2 ½ in. long needles in bunches of two, scaly red-brown to grey bark, and asymmetrical 1 ½ - 2 in. long cones with sharp-tipped scales that remain on trees for many years, either open or closed. (2)
Lodgepole pine ranges across Western North America, particularly in the drier interior plateau. (1) 
Lodgepole pine (P. contorta var. latifolia) and shore pine (P. contorta var. contorta) are different varieties of the same species of pine with different growth habits and preferred environments. (2)

Ecology

Ecology

Lodgepole pine prefers dry environments and high elevations. It is remarkably hardy and was one of the first species of tree to colonize after the recession of the Puget Ice Lobe around 14,000 years ago. The species also tolerates rocky, volcanic, and serpentine-rich soils inhospitable for most trees. (2)
Lodgepole pine is far more prolific than most conifers. Lodgepoles will produce cones year after year unlike most evergreens, and young trees will begin reproducing when they are between 5 and 20 years old. This prolific reproductive strategy often leads to overcrowded pine stands. (2)
Lodgepole pine is currently being threatened by the mountain pine beetle, and there have been two major outbreaks in the last 50 years. Warming climates are facilitating the spread of mountain pine beetles further north into British Columbia. (2) They target the trees of largest diameter first (14 in. or greater), since the size is necessary to sustain their larvae, and move to smaller trees after the larger ones are killed. An outbreak of pine beetles will kill most of the old-growth lodgepole pines in a stand, which then causes the remaining pines to grow large enough for the beetles to target and kill them, which occurs cyclically every 20-40 years. A fire can interrupt this succession cycle and cause a stand to revert to solely lodgepole pine. (1) Fire regimes are also important for the lifecycle of lodgepole pines, and the Rocky Mountain Lodgepoles commonly have cones sealed shut by resin that open when exposed to temperatures above 113 degrees Fahrenheit. (2)

Equity

Cultural and Historical Significance

Lodgepole pine is an important species for Northwest natives. Gum made of lodgepole pine pitch was chewed, and likely boosted oral health with its resinous and aromatic compounds. This gum/pitch was also used for caulking baskets and canoes, as a waterproofing agent and protective coating by the Sechelt, and as a poultice for sores, swelling, and boils. (3) Medicinal usage of the pitch and bark was widespread, and has been documented in the Nuu-chah-nulth, Kwakwaka’wakw, Haida, Nuxalk, Tsimshian, Tlingit, and Coast Salish groups. Arrow shafts, fish weirs, and firedrills were made from lodgepole pine, bark was used as covering shelters and roofing for houses, pitchwood used as torches, dried needles for fire tinder, and roots were used in fishing line by the Nisga’a. Inner bark cambium tissues were an important source of food for people of the interior plateau, were regarded as a sweet candy-like treat, and considered to have health-promoting, laxative, deworming, cough tonic, and stomach treating properties. It was harvested in late spring using partial harvesting practices. Rectangular strips were cut from live trees in late spring, and it was then eaten raw, cooked, boiled, or dried. The name ‘lodgepole’ comes from the tree’s use in housing construction including pit houses in our region (3) and the poles that supported tipis. (1)

Economics

Economics

Lodgepole pine is a valuable timber species, and lumber is used for paneling, floor joists, pulpwood, firewood, fencing, poles, and sawtimber. It is also a component in composite woods such as plywood and fiberboard. Logging of lodgepole pine was crucial for the early economic development of the North and Central Rocky Mountains, and annual lumber production in the region produced an average of between 500 and 700 million feet of board between the years of 1975 and 1985 and was a quarter of all annual lumber output for Montana in 1981. (1)

Sources

Sources

  1. Anderson, Michelle D. (2003). Pinus contorta var. latifolia. Fire Effects Information System,. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. https://www.fs.fed.us /database/feis/plants/tree/pinconl/all.html.
  2. Mathews, D. (2021). Cascadia revealed: A guide to the plants, Animals & Geology of the Pacific Northwest Mountains. Timber Press, Inc. 
  3. Turner, N. J. (2015). Ancient pathways, ancestral knowledge: Ethnobotany and ecological wisdom of indigenous peoples of Northwestern North America. McGill-Queen’s University Press. 
     
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