Forest Health and White Bark Pine Mapping and Condition Assessment

The purpose of this project is to improve the understanding of extent and health of occupied whitebark pine stands within the Lake Tahoe Basin to support habitat conservation and recovery plans. Existing habitat maps are sufficient for identifying coarse localities where whitebark pine dominated stands occur, but extent of dominant, co-dominant, and mixed stands is lacking. Ground based mapping is limited in whitebark pine stands due to steep and rugged terrain that is difficult or infeasible to traverse on foot. Recent research has demonstrated use of unmanned aerial vehicles to map whitebark pine presence and mortality. The objective of this project is to produce spatial products.