In 1927, the park service joined the Forest Protection Board (FPB), an interagency organization that promoted cooperative fire suppression. The FPB also helped plan the fight of forest diseases and pest infestations. The Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Plant Industry had the main task of supporting the park service in disease control. The early 1930s ushered in major scientific studies on forest health, primarily on insect control techniques, such as with the bark beetle, and blister rust control techniques. White pine blister rust, a non-native fungus, was a primary concern at the time. The endeavors of these allied organizations led to widespread control efforts in the 1930s. Programs to eliminate blister rust based on the results of studies from the early 1930s began in earnest in 1938. Blister rust also lives in the genus of plants called ribes, which includes one hundred and fifty different species. The primary technique of blister rust control was to eliminate any species of ribes. These plants are native and given the large number of species included in this genus, there were a lot of them within the parks. Efforts to eliminate them were difficult and time consuming. Eventually the efforts were given up in the 1950s when they proved futile. The primary program to eliminate dwarf mistletoe infestations occurred in Cedar Grove. This program was primarily a local initiative. The strategy was to prune trees’ limbs carrying mistletoe. They attempted to invigorate the vegetation in Cedar Grove by eliminating this forest pest. The program eventually ceased to be a priority. The year 1941 marked the first major efforts by the park service towards eliminating forest pests. Foresters used chemical sprays and felled trees infested with insects, often by peeling the bark and burning them. The park service primarily focused its efforts on areas important to visitors. It was often a cooperative mission among all public lands, of which the park service’s forestry office was more than willing to participate in. The publication of the Leopold Report in 1963 discontinued the spraying of insecticide in attempts to eradicate forest pests and diseases. The report raised questions about the negative consequences of spraying harsh chemicals to the forests’ delicate ecosystems. These consequences could be more harmful to the management of the national park’s natural resources than the forest diseases and pests.