Insect and disease infestations pose major threats to several North American forest tree species.
Scientists and managers from throughout the United States Forest Service developed a conservation priority-setting framework for forest tree species at risk from insects and disease
and other threats. The Project CAPTURE (Conservation Assessment and Prioritization of Forest
Trees Under Risk of Extirpation) framework is data-driven and guided by expert opinion,
allowing the quantitative grouping of species into vulnerability classes that may require different
management and conservation strategies.  This assessment tool should be valuable for decision-makers determining which species and populations to target for monitoring efforts and for pro-active gene conservation and management activities.