A recent editorial in the New York Times discusses the white bark pine forests across Wyoming, Idaho and Montana that are dead or dying after being attacked by the mountain pine beetle and a disease called white pine blister rust. Warmer winters and summers have allowed the beetle to breed more quickly; just over half the white bark pine forests are dead; one-fourth have medium to high mortality; few forests have escaped some damage.The loss of the pines threatens rate of snowmelt, as well as habitat for bird species and grizzly bears, which feed heavily on pine nuts before hibernation.