Breeding programs for "other" species are
underway
By Randy Johnson, Winter 2000
Through the years Douglas-fir has been the primary species of interest
to tree breeders in western Oregon and Washington. It is the
predominant species in the region, and historically, has had higher log
prices than most of the other species. Western hemlock is another
species that is readily abundant and has a reasonable market, therefore
there are programs for it on the coast. While there are numerous other
species, very few have sufficient standing volume or value to warrant
an expensive breeding program. As a result, very little breeding for
other species is ongoing in western Oregon and Washington. In areas
where Douglas-fir is less predominant, breeding programs have been
initiated for other species. These areas include the higher elevations of
the Cascades, British Columbia, and east of the Cascade crest.
Douglas-fir becomes less prevalent in the higher elevations of the
Cascades, where most of the area is federally owned. As a result,
breeding programs for noble fir, western white pine and sugar pine are
carried out by the USDA Forest Service (USFS) and USDI Bureau of
Land Management (BLM). Noble fir is bred primarily for growth and
form. Seed orchards are established and some are producing seed. The
white pines are primarily bred for resistance to white pine blister rust.
Blister rust was introduced to western North America early this century
and plagues all the North American five-needle pines. Breeding for
resistance is carried out throughout the Northwest and involves
screening families as seedlings at either the USFS Dorena Genetic
Resource Center in Oregon or the USFS nursery in Coeur d'Alene,
Idaho. Both public agencies and private companies have families
screened at these centers. Trees that exhibit some form of genetic
resistance are used in seed orchards and entered into breeding
programs. The Inland Empire Tree Improvement Cooperative (IETIC)
seed orchard in Moscow, Idaho, produced over 1,000 bushels of cones
from blister rust resistant western white pine seed this year (contact
Dennis Parent at 509-924-1911 for more information). The USFS,
BLM, Washington State Department of Natural Resources and British
Columbia Ministry of Forests all have western white pine orchards as
well. The USFS Dorena program has access to hundreds of pounds of
resistant white pine and sugar pine seed for most of the Oregon and
Washington Cascades (contact Jude Danielson at 541-942-5526 for
further information).
In southern Oregon, the USFS and BLM are also screening Port Orford
cedar for resistance to Phytophthora lateralis with help from Oregon
State University. This exotic root disease is at epidemic proportions.
The program is in its beginning stages and seed orchards have not yet
been established. Some families in this program stand out as having
increased tolerance to the disease.
Another introduced pest for which resistance is being bred is the white
pine weevil on Sitka spruce. The British Columbia Ministry of Forests
has screened numerous populations and families and has identified two
seed sources with increased resistance (Haney and Big Qualicum), and
numerous clones showing high levels of resistance. Seed orchard seed
is not yet available, but some level of resistance can be obtained by
using seed collected from the resistant seed sources.
Both the Inland Empire Tree Improvement Cooperative and the British
Columbia Ministry of Forests (BC MoF) have active breeding programs
to improve growth and form of other species. (Table 1).
Table 1. Breeding program locations for "other" species.
Species
Organization
Breeding zone
Western
white pine
USFS, BLM,
IETIC, BC
MoFWA DNR
OR and WA Cascades, OR
Cascades, Eastern WA,
Northern Idaho, Western
Montana, Coastal & Interior
BC, WA Cascades
Sugar pine
USFS
OR Cascades
Ponderosa
pine
IETIC, WA DNR
Eastern WA, Northern Idaho,
Western Montana, East slope of
Southern WA Cascades
Lodgepole
pine
IETIC, BC MoF
Eastern OR & WA, Interior BC
Noble fir
USFS, BLM
OR and WA Cascades, OR
Cascades and Coast Range
Port Orford
cedar
USFS, BLM
Southern Oregon
BC MoF
Coastal BC
BC MoF
Alaskan
yellow cedar
Coastal BC
Sitka spruce BC MoF
Coastal BC
White
spruce
BC MoF
Coastal BC
Western
larch
IETIC, BC MoF
Eastern WA, Northern Idaho,
Western Montana, Interior BC
Western
redcedar
Who to contact
If a family forest owner has land that is in the area of any of these
breeding programs, they have an opportunity to take advantage of the
improved growth, form or disease resistance that is available from these
programs. All these organizations provide available seed to the private
sector in some manner. The key is to know who to contact. A good
place to start is with your state nursery or the geneticist at your local
Forest Service or BLM office. The USFS and the BLM have geneticists
that run both their breeding programs and seed orchards. Because these
are government organizations, they cannot compete with commercial
seed dealers; but, there is usually some way they can provide seed to
state nurseries. The IETIC has species directors that know the
availability of improved seed and can help a landowner purchase seed.
For British Columbia Ministry of Forests programs, contact their Tree
Improvement Branch at (205) 387-8939 or visit their website at
www.for.gov.bc.ca/tip.
Randy Johnson is a research geneticist with the Pacific Northwest
Research Station, USDA Forest Service, in Corvallis, Ore.