Lodgepole needle miner The lodgepole needle miner (Coleotechnites milleri) is an insect, endemic to the upper Tuolumne and Merced River watersheds of Yosemite National Park and one small headwaters drainage of the San Joaquin River (Sierra National Forest). It lives mostly within the needles of lodgepole pine for two years, emerging as a little gray moth for a few weeks in July of odd-numbered years. This keeps any predators from becoming effective control agents and allows populations to escalate rapidly. While regular prehistoric outbreaks of lodgepole needle miners have been confirmed through dendrochronology, historic records document outbreaks from 1903 to 1921, 1933 to 1941, and 1947 to 1963. Extensive stands of "ghost forest" and jackstrawed trees are still conspicuous throughout Sierra Nevada. Annual monitoring of lodgepole needle miner density began in 1966, and 28 permanent plots are scattered north of the Cathedral Range. The current outbreak began in 1973 and has been sweeping around the south side of the Cathedral Range, arriving at Sunrise High Sierra Camp in 2001. The Ghost Forest which was evident at the crest between Tenaya Lake and Tuolumne Meadows in the late 1970s was noticeably reforested by 2000. Lodgepole needle miner defoliation currently extends over approximately , with nearly of low to high mortality each year. While lightning fires are frequent in lodgepole pine communities, they usually remain small, with estimated fire return intervals at Yosemite National Park that are long (relative to most other forest types). Thus, fire suppression activities are thought to have had little influence upon species composition, structure, fuels, and natural processes in lodgepole forests. Also, in comparison with Rocky Mountains lodgepole pine forests, fire plays a smaller role, and so the needle miner assumes greater importance in lodgepole pine forest population dynamics in the Sierra Nevada. However, Rocky Mountain lodgepole forest dynamics are also heavily influenced by insect outbreaks, primarily bark beetles. Special-status species There are at least 1,300 vascular plant species in the Sierra Nevada, along with numerous bryophytes and lichens. There are at least 450 species of vertebrate animals. A total of 135 plant species in the Sierra Nevada have status as Threatened, Endangered, or Sensitive Plants that are Federal species of concern (former Category 2 species) under the Federal Endangered Species Act include: Three-bracted onion (Allium tribracteatum), Yosemite woolly sunflower (Eriophyllum nubigenum), Congdon's lomatium (Lomatium congdonii), Tiehm's rock-cress (Arabis tiehmii), Slender-stemmed monkeyflower (Mimulus filicaulis), and Bolander's clover