Sugar Pine Foundation (SPF)

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The Sugar Pine Foundation, founded in 2004, is a non-profit organization that is working to save our forests from the threat of white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola), a non-native, incurable fungus that is killing white pines. The Sugar Pine Foundation carries out its mission by identifying trees that are resistant to the fungus, collecting their seed, and planting their progeny throughout the Tahoe Basin - and beyond!

Our Mission
We are dedicated to saving Tahoe´s sugar pines and other white pines from blister rust by educating and involving the local community in hands-on forest stewardship.

Our work
• Conservation by Tree Identification; Cone Collection and Resistance Testing
• Restoration: The benefits of planting sugar pines include: improved watershed health; decreased fire risk; increased food and habitat for native wildlife and enhanced recreation and scenic beauty
• Education: Education is one of our main areas of concentration. Interactive & Interdisciplinary: We can design a fun educational experience within the curriculum requirements for different grade levels. Learning activities may include: Tree identification and measurement; Forest ecology and history; Fire ecology; Wildlife studies; Watershed science and Orienteering.
• Research and Science: The Sugar Pine Foundation has been studying the incidence of blister rust in Tahoe´s mixed-conifer forests in collaboration with researchers at the University of California, Davis. With assistance from the Tahoe-Baikal Institute, the Sugar Pine Foundation has also been researching the effects of climate change on the composition of higher-elevation white pines species. In addition to collecting genetic and resistance data on sugar pines, western white pines and whitebark pines, the Sugar Pine Foundation actively studies the effects of white pine blister rust and climate change on Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forest ecosystems.

Maria Mircheva is the Executive Director of the Sugar Pine Foundation.

For other net participants we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion, procure expert information and establish new contacts in the field of our work.