Later this summer and into early fall, tree-climbing crews will be using ropes to pull themselves up into 40, 60 even 80-foot tall Southwestern White Pine trees in Arizona’s high elevation mixed conifer forests. Researchers have only about a four-week window during the year when the tree’s pinecones are ripe to gather them for genetic research aimed at keeping these trees from dying out. The Southwestern White Pine is under attack from a parasite called the blister rust fungus. Kristen … [Read more...] about NAU Researcher Works to Save a Species