My Week in the Backcountry

Circa July 2025, I headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park on a volunteer position to pick invasive Canada Thistle headed by a Park Ranger in the required accoutrement of First Tactical pants and a beige button down. After learning that ants eat aphids living on the flowering buds of Canada Thistle (and subsequently becoming covered in ants as a result), our Park Ranger let us know that Rocky Mountain National Park was hosting a week long volunteer trip for 5 volunteers interested in planting limber pines in the backcountry. It would be the first time in the Park’s history that volunteers have stayed overnight and is open to experienced and seasoned individuals. An interest form would be sent out to people who wanted to take a stab at getting the position.

Of the nearly 60 people who applied, 12 were interviewed, and 5 were selected.

And that starts the beginning of a two month process that accumulated into just a week long trip in the backcountry of Rocky Mountain National Park–one of the most beautiful and extraordinary places on Earth. And also one of the best weeks of my life, so far.

Many of my treks outside have been contingent on when and where I could get permits and that is to say: they have been more on the spontaneous side. A week in Rocky with 3 Park Rangers is anything but spontaneous. Everything was meticulously packed, planned, and prepped. Some of this came from motivation to keep things from going wrong so as to hopefully have overnight volunteers in the park, but most of it is the National Park Service’s own way of doing things that is much more professional than what a general outing looks like for many of us.

The crux of this entire mission is White-Pine Blister Rust. White Pine is synonymous with 5-needle pines (i.e. Limber Pines) and the Rust is an invasive fungus affecting those 5-needle pines. White Bark Pine Trees were initially affected with White-Pine Blister Rust in the early 20th century and effectively desiccated the populations of the White Bark Pine. The White Bark Pine Tree is now listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

Rocky Mountain National Park, under the guidance of previous research into 5-needle pine trees, specifically the White Bark Pine tree, recognized the threat of White-Pine Blister Rust to the Limber Pine Tree–Rocky Mountain’s only 5-needle pine tree. Prior to the 2020 Colorado fires, research scientists, including Anna Schoettle (a pioneer in proactive conservation), developed a plan to protect the Limber Pines from the same fate the White Bark Pines are facing now. Efforts began around 2009, but were certainly tested when two of Colorado’s largest fires in history burned through Rocky Mountain National Park. Many of the areas the East Troublesome Fire and Cameron Peak Fire burned through were homes to the Limber Pine.

As a Native Northern Californian, I am fully aware of the devastating affects that fire has; but, I have also become aware that fire is a necessary and good thing for our ecosystems. A century of fire suppression, however, has taken this necessary cycle and made it potentially more devastating than it may otherwise would be. Fire is good, fire suppression: not so much.

For example, Aspen Trees are an early part of forest succession. In deeply burned areas, Aspen Trees are typically some of the first to grow and wave their colors across canyons. Their orange and yellow leaves wave with the wind effectively telling us both hello and goodbye. We say thank you in return.

Limber Pines are also part of this forest succession process. So, after the fires, the National Park made a decision to prioritize getting limber pines back in the ground to give them a better shot at survival. Between a dying population and the threat of White Pine Blister Rust, these trees need all the help we can get.

Adding an extra layer of complication is the fact that Limber Pines actually do not fare well in areas with competition, both with each other and against other tree species. Seeing baby Ponderosas in the burn areas is great for regeneration, but not so great for the Limber Pine outlook. So, that is where us 5 volunteers come in. The attempt to accelerate growth in the way that only Clark’s Nutcrackers know how. Planting!

One of the Rangers on our Hitch said that for the next week we would be Clark’s Nutcrackers. This made us laugh, but she was right. Clark’s Nutcrackers cache seeds in clever hiding spots and they specifically like those yummy pine nuts that come specifically from Limber Pines. Where you generally see Limber Pines growing is where a Clark’s Nutcracker has cached its seeds and forgotten about it. Thus, you will see Limber Pines growing out of cracks in rocks, on the sides of canyons, and truthfully some of the most uninhabitable areas in the forest. But, that is the beauty of Limber Pines–their niche is where other trees cannot grow. That made planting a whole lot harder.

Our goal was to follow in the footsteps of Clark’s Nutcrackers and plant where we may see a cache. But, our goal was to also increase their likelihood of survivorship. So, this meant planting next to a nurse object (an object that protects the tree in its younger years and significantly increases the likelihood that it will survive) and planting on the north side of that nurse object. 400 Limber Pine saplings were planting over the course of a week. All of them next to a nurse object, and all of them on the North aspect of that nurse object. And all of them hand-watered at least once. That’s the professionalism of the National Park Service.

So, with the history of the uncompetitive Limber Pine, White Pine Blister Rust, and fire, we sought out to give these trees some hope. All 400 trees hiked in are 3 years old grown in a greenhouse in Loveland for the National Park specifically. With their root system in tact at 3 years old, they were ready to be put in the ground. But, the work is not over. Every year, Rangers will head out to the same place we planted and monitor the survivorship of these trees. In other planting sites, survivorship has varied all the way from 30% (in very highly vegetated areas such as Fern Lake (they seriously do not like competition)) to an outstanding 90% on Steep Mountain. The Rangers will continue to monitor their efforts and us volunteers will do our own less scientific monitoring by hiking into the planting site and seeing how the saplings are doing.

Time is against these trees. With the forests already beginning to regenerate, the Limber Pines are on the losing side. Making this a harder to pill to swallow is the fact that they will not be cone-producing for another 60 years, at least. Thus, the Clark’s Nutcrackers will need to work very, very hard to keep these trees alive. But, we have work to do too as humans who have every ability to help out.

Get outside, have the courage to be curious. The Limber Pines and Clark’s Nutcrackers need you, but so do hundreds of thousands other species.