If you follow this interpretation it appears Abies lasiocarpa is primarily a tree of Canada, with the majority of the trees in the US being A. bifolia. Most of us may not have seen A. lasiocarpa.

Best treatment is:
Abies lasiocarpa subsp. lasiocarpa - Coast Ranges & Cascades (south to extreme NW California)
Abies lasiocarpa subsp. bifolia - Northern Rockies
Abies lasiocarpa subsp. arizonica - Southern Rockies

The narrow crown is shared by all three subspecies, and in Britain at least, is retained in cultivation.

subsp. arizonica is more drought tolerant; whether it is also more heat tolerant, possibly, but hard to be certain. Although more southerly in origin, it is also from higher altitude, the two factors ± cancelling each other out in temperatures.

Resin

I would go with A. l. subsp. bifolia and subsp. lasiocarpa, but with some trepidation as no really good botanical reason has been published to justify separating them, though logic says such a large geographic area needs subspecies.
Anyone with guts will go with A. arizonica. Don't you know a budding species when you see it?
A. bifolia is however pure bogus.
So there.

"Anyone with guts will go with A. arizonica. Don't you know a budding species when you see it? "

Sorry, don't see this . . . cones identical, foliage near-identical, only the bark really stands out as distinct, and that's not enough on its own. A good subspecies though with its distinct ecological adaptations.

If I was to go for a blatantly obvious "budding species" to split among those that aren't usually, I'd go for Pinus (caribaea var.) hondurensis.

Resin

I have seen both bifolia and arizonica in habitat near Santa Fe, and Albuquerque, NM respectively. Arizonica is much more sprawling where I have seen it in the Sandia Mtns versus the perfectly straight bifolia. Given what I know of the two range's precipitation patterns; arizonica is likely the better choice for you. bifolia is absent that I know of south of Santa Fe.

Temperatures over 90 F probably will kill both trees outright. I can grow aspen, white fir, and limber pine in the high desert with some care, arizonica never made it here. Why not white fir or Douglas fir? Both are much more heat-tolerant (orders of magnitude more) and often intermix into the Upper Sonoran habitat with Opuntia, and evergreen oaks in the SW - habitats that while montane see heat every summer. This last weekend I hiked among alligator juniper and Douglas fir growing in the high desert foothills of the Manzano Mtns of Central NM. The site of Douglas fir baby Xmas trees next to Englemann prickly pear is one I will not soon forget.

Well, I like pushing things that aren't supposed to grow here, but I also like the very narrow tall habit of these Fir (sub)species. Douglas Fir obviously isn't a true Fir and I was looking at true Firs only. I haven't seen White Fir that was very narrow and upright like A. lasiocarpa/bifolia/arizonica etc., but maybe there are some?

I made my guess as to A. lasiocarpa possibly being more heat tolerant based on an old taxonomy which called all of A. bifolia and A. lasiocarpa merely A. lasiocarpa and that towards the Southern end of it's(Abies lasiocarpa subsp. bifolia under Resin's treatment) range it grows at a lower elevation than A. lasiocarpa subsp. arizonica.

One odd partnership with Opuntia cactus I came across here in Eastern Kansas is a gravel "sand" bar which must of been very old because the tiny little stream nearby(about 1' deep and 2' wide at the wettest of times) never has enough water flow to deposit this big and deep of a gravel bar, which was covered with Opuntia cactus and an over-story of Pecans(Carya illinoensis). Normally the 2 Opuntia species found here grow on exposed dry South and West facing hillsides in shallow soil laid over bedrock. The deep gravel must dry out very quickly to allow the Opuntia to grow there, but there must be some wet subsoil deep down for the Pecans to get their roots into at the same time.

I have a 1.5 year old Abies lasiocarpa. It is just breaking bud!! and looking very good. We get to 100F a couple of times a year, but 90F is very common from May to July-August. You should give it a try!!
I have a very hard time growing A. concolor, mainly due to the soil I have (clay), otherwise it should do just fine.

osprey

osprey, what is the provenance of your Abies lasiocarpa?

My source is souther NM, near the town of Ruidoso. I bought it at a local nursery! It is still early to tell whether it will thrive or not, but so far so good...

osprey