AP: Climate change is hastening the demise of Pacific Northwest forests

[OKIsItJustMe]

Climate change is hastening the demise of Pacific Northwest forests

BY NATHAN GILLES, COLUMBIA INSIGHT
Updated 11:49 AM EST, November 16, 2023

SHERWOOD, Ore. (AP) — Deep inside a forest in Oregon’s Willamette Valley stands a dead “Tree of Life.”

Its foliage, normally soft and green, is tough and brown or missing altogether. Nonetheless, the tree’s reddish bark, swooping branches and thick, conical base identify it as the Pacific Northwest’s iconic western red cedar.

Christine Buhl, a forest health specialist for the Oregon Department of Forestry, plunges a tool called an increment borer into the dead tree’s trunk. Twisting the handle of the corkscrew-like borer, Buhl extracts a long, thin sample of the tree’s inner growth rings.

The rings become thinner over time, indicating the tree’s growth slowed before the tree finally died, a sign that this red cedar, like thousands of others in Oregon and Washington, died from drought.

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[CentralMass]

1. 😮‍💨

[2naSalit]

2. Northern Rockies aren't doing so well either...

Bark beetles, bark rust, drought and fire.

[OKIsItJustMe]

3. Department of Environmental Conservation - Forest Health

https://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/4969.html

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Forest Health Issues
Pests that Can Harm New York State Trees
Learn about the symptoms and signs, hosts, biology, and available control strategies of many of the harmful insects and diseases that threaten trees and forests in New York State. Damage can also be caused by environmental factors.

Insects:

• Asian longhorned beetle (quarantine*)
• Emerald ash borer
• Spongy moth (formerly gypsy moth)
• Hemlock woolly adelgid
• Southern pine beetle
• Spotted lanternfly
• Tent caterpillars

Diseases:

• Beech leaf disease
• Oak wilt disease

*Quarantine: when movement of certain articles is restricted in order to prevent the spread of a pest, disease or invasive plant.

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[Timewas]

4. Our cedars are ok

But losing a lot of Douglas fir and pine trees...