Since 2004, Genetic conservation of forest trees has been a primary focus. The lab first started this work in the Lake Tahoe Basin and quickly expanded, applying collection techniques throughout the Sierra Nevada, Transverse & Peninsular ranges, Great Basin, White & Inyo mountains, Klamath region, southern Cascades, and Warner mountains. The greatest diversity of five-needled white pine are found in California with six of the ten North American species distributed across the State's coastal and interior forests, from low elevation to subalpine ecosystems. Nevada is second in its white pine diversity with five species. The lab is actively engaged with Federal, State & non-profit partners in restoration and reforestation of white pine species threatened by high levels of WPBR infection, climate-driven outbreaks of mountain pine beetle, wildfire, and the decrease of genetic diversity as a result of historical logging practices in local pine populations.