US Forest Service working to restore Idaho’s state tree

LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service is trying to bring back Idaho’s state tree to its former prominence. Western white pine were wiped out in the early to mid-1900s by a fungus that arrived from Europe in 1910. But efforts starting in 1950 to grow white pine trees resistant to the blister rust fungus are continuing at the Forest Service’s Coeur d’Alene Nursery, in northern Idaho. Forest Service geneticist Mary Frances Mahalovich says the nursery can produce trees that are about 66% resistant to blister rust. White pine was once a dominant species in Idaho. The trees are prized by loggers because they grow fast, tall and straight.