Southern Pine Bark Beetle

46er

Piney
Mar 24, 2004
8,837
2,144
Coastal NJ
They have decimated the pine trees out west. Have caused a serious food problem for the Grizzly. From what I've read, no pines are immune to them. The cause for their increased numbers is still debated, with no solution found by the USFS other than logging.

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/article_de334b86-ce94-11df-a5c6-001cc4c002e0.html

I've also noticed many dead deciduous trees along RT 70 near Brendan Byrne SF, miles & miles of them, but have yet to find the cause.
 

MuckSavage

Explorer
Apr 1, 2005
616
237
56
Turnersville
I'm not sure if they affect our pines, but being an RV'er, we're warned all over the country about bringing campfire wood in from other areas. Last year, i was working with a guy from Colorado. He showed me pictures of whole mountainsides where trees were killed by the beetles. Very sad.
 

mudboy dave

Explorer
Oct 15, 2008
950
19
43
atco
opentrailsnj.org
This is why it's important for people not to overlook logs and shrubs for dumping. Dumping of logs and shrubs may seem harmless to most however you stand the chance of introducing pests that are non native.
 

mudboy dave

Explorer
Oct 15, 2008
950
19
43
atco
opentrailsnj.org
Are Catalpa trees unwanted? I always thought Johnny Smoker trrees where pretty cool. theres a big one in my backyard. There is also one growing on Tremont Dirt Road. Should I rip it out or chop it or smomething?
 

cranbrake

Scout
Jun 3, 2009
79
9
Weren't these dead trees caused by the Gypsy moth infestation a few years back?


yeah i saw those-looks like gypsy moths' handywork for sure.........as for catalpa,i don't know if those are native to the pines but they're at least native to the eastern u.s......
 

imkms

Explorer
Feb 18, 2008
603
242
SJ and SW FL
Are Catalpa trees unwanted? I always thought Johnny Smoker trrees where pretty cool. theres a big one in my backyard. There is also one growing on Tremont Dirt Road. Should I rip it out or chop it or smomething?

Let it live! I've been told that I may have the largest Catalpa in the state growing in my front yard. It goes up straight like a telephone pole (which is unusual) and has to be at least 80 feet tall. Other than being a dirty tree with the newspaper size leaves it drops, along with bean pods and dropping white flowers in the spring I don't think they are a cause for concern.
 

GermanG

Piney
Apr 2, 2005
1,143
479
Little Egg Harbor
Catalpa isn't native to the the northeast but isn't an invasive species either. I find something neat about them. They were much more popular years ago and you can find them at many abandoned sites in the pines. Martha and Harrisville come to mind. I even remember them planted as street trees as a youth growing up in Paterson. They don't seem like the ideal street tree but maybe it was just fashionable at the time.
 

46er

Piney
Mar 24, 2004
8,837
2,144
Coastal NJ
Weren't these dead trees caused by the Gypsy moth infestation a few years back?

I wasn't aware that area had several back to back years of moth problems. It usually takes several to kill a tree, and there are a lot of dead ones out that way. Our area had 2 years of moths, but hardly any trees croaked due to it. I'll have to ask the folks at the FREC when I get back there.
 

cranbrake

Scout
Jun 3, 2009
79
9
i was gonna say the emerald ash borer beetle is another possible culprit (apparently they will target many other tree species,not just ash) but they leave distinctive signs that i didn't see on those roadside oaks but i admit i wasn't closely inspecting them for insects


**edit:sorry-false alarm,i don't think the emerald ash borer beetle has been recorded in NJ(or any closer than MD for that matter)......
 

ecampbell

Piney
Jan 2, 2003
2,889
1,029
I wasn't aware that area had several back to back years of moth problems. It usually takes several to kill a tree, and there are a lot of dead ones out that way. Our area had 2 years of moths, but hardly any trees croaked due to it. I'll have to ask the folks at the FREC when I get back there.

Several years of drought amd moths did them in. I took down 32 oaks this season and only because they were threatening the barn and fence, there are lots more I left standing. Most started the year with a few leaves and then turned brown. Oak galls were part of the problem too. I fear what spring will reveal.
 

MuckSavage

Explorer
Apr 1, 2005
616
237
56
Turnersville
I was kidding about the Catalpas'. For whatever reason, I dislike them. Probably beacuse the are so fast to germinate & take root. It seems I'm constantly cuttting down small Catalpas on the properties I maintain.
 

wis bang

Explorer
Jun 24, 2004
235
2
East Windsor
Several years of drought and moths did them in. I took down 32 oaks this season and only because they were threatening the barn and fence, there are lots more I left standing. Most started the year with a few leaves and then turned brown. Oak galls were part of the problem too. I fear what spring will reveal.

I have the same problem in the Poconos, our cabin lease has close to 20 dead oaks from the gypsy moths, I just had the ranger mark the ones I can remove so they won't fall on the cabin. He marked 14.

I was at the New Jersey Wild Outdoor Expo on Sept 25th inside Assunpink WMU and there was one table with info on the Asian Longhorn Beetle and the Emerald Ash Borer giving out information and a bumper sticker size magnet about not moving firewood.

PA has a firewood quarantine over the ash borer. Posters are up at every state facility. They are saying if the ash borer spreads in PA it will be almost as devastating as the Chestnut blight.
 

46er

Piney
Mar 24, 2004
8,837
2,144
Coastal NJ
PA has a firewood quarantine over the ash borer. Posters are up at every state facility. They are saying if the ash borer spreads in PA it will be almost as devastating as the Chestnut blight.

We were in the Pokes and the PA side of the DWGNRA last weekend and there are signs up everywhere. Every parking area and each trail we were on had at least one.
 

ecampbell

Piney
Jan 2, 2003
2,889
1,029
The southern pine bark beetle was highlited on the ABC evening news tonight. May's Landing has been hit hard.
 

Boyd

Administrator
Staff member
Site Administrator
Jul 31, 2004
9,825
3,005
Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
The large oak trees on my land are all dying from something, perhaps it's the "oak gall". There are sort of spherical woody things on the smaller branches. So far, this hasn't bothered me a lot because it provides a supply of trees for firewood and is opening up the canopy so that the pines can become dominant again.

I have not noticed any more sick looking pine trees than usual around my land (about 5 miles south of Mays Landing) this year. But I suppose if I subscribed to the doom and gloom, I could expect to be living in a desert in a few years when all the bugs get finished with the oaks and pines. The late frost this year really took a toll on the big laurel bushes out in the woods, killing all the new growth. I'm wondering if they are going to survive too, they look pretty bare and sorry.
 
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