My post is to ask how to best protect a conifer that has suffered a lot but continues to be a tree of great significance on a private property in eastern North Carolina. I've had the good fortune to be permitted to climb this enduring tree. I'm told it is a white pine, more than 50 years old, that survived an otherwise devastating fire, 50 years back, and having 12 feet of its trunk buried during massive landscaping, AND suffered snapping of the central apical stem, some 33 feet above the current ground level. Because a portion of the canopy is missing, it has the look of a giant nest. It has been affectionately named "the Lookout Tree", overseeing approaches by water to the property.

By way of background, it's well known that conifers can accomplish, "deposition of ... terpenes/resins", per Kevin T. Smith, PhD, Plant Physiologist, USDA Forest Service, to the ITRDB Dendrochronology Forum, 09/28/2000. Essentially, conifers produce sap as a self-defense mechanism. Others mention, also within the ITRDB, that the sap is highly flammable. A portion of the injury is protected by a thick bandage of sap. I considering having a prosthetic limb carved to mechanically cap the area. So, my question becomes:

Should the remainder of the injury showing evidence of rot be filled with a matrix of sap and wood fiber availed from local arborists, or should a commercial matrix, (tree bandage and wood filler) be used?

Many thanks for all recommendations!
Trebuchet