Montana Forests Struggle With Climate Change

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK, MONTANA - SEPTEMBER 17: U.S. Park Service Native Plants Nursery Crew Lead Levi Besaw calms a mule as Animal Packers Jill Michalak and and Jacob Ellis load the animal with gear, supplies and 585 two-year-old whitebark pine seedlings for the journey up to the Mt. Brown Lookout Station September 17, 2019 in Glacier National Park, Montana. A U.S. Park Service revegetation crew sets out to plant 585 whitebark pine seedlings among the skeletal remains of the forest that burned near the top of the mountain in the 2017 Sprague Creek Fire. With annual average temperatures in Montana rising almost three degrees Fahrenheit since 1950, high elevation tree species like the whitebark pine that were not previously threatened are now facing an increase in blister rust infections, mountain pine beetle infestations and wildfire. A slow-growing species that lives at elevations above 6,000 feet, the whitebark is an essential source of food for many birds and small mammals. (Footage by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)