Are a Lot of Trees Dying Where You Live?

A couple weeks ago I travelled from my home state of Michigan to the Nashville TN area. I noticed a lot of dead and dying trees. I saw three dying magnolia trees at the Opry Mall in Nashville. They were pretty big and looked like they had been there more than a year. They had already bloomed but the leaves were withered like they were dying. It took an hour to get back to my sister's house and my eyes were wide open the whole drive checking out all the death. On the nine hour drive north I saw dying or dead trees everywhere. I couldn't believe my eyes and it made me feel sick. It wasn't just one species, it was across the board. The closer I got to my house the better the trees looked, but today I was out and about and noticed the trees in my area were looking bad. Many have dying leaves on them and many others are clearly half dead.

The only enemy of trees locally is the ash bore. That does not explain all the other species demise.

We have not had a drought in this area either.

I am sensitive to this because 15 years ago I had the strangest dream. I was standing on my porch looking at all the trees and the leaves were withered and falling off. It was not fall, it was summer. It was a very eerie dream and one I will never forget.

Does anyone have any idea what is going on? Has anyone noticed this happening?

Pine beetle is destroying forests in western canada. There was a big freeze this year, which probably killed off a high percentage of them, but they've been cutting trees down that are infected at a rampant rate, just to get a buck out of them.
Also, it doesn'thelp that most, like probably 90% even, of replanted forests are done so with pine, making it a feast for these little bugs.Pine grows faster.
A couple years ago, i was marking out cut blocks for a company, and when you get deep in to the forest and you get a view, one is awed by the destruction these things bring.

So, yes.

No idea what might be happening in your neck of the woods (pun intended), but I can assure you that the trees in Connecticut are thriving and lush. For a second opinion, I offer the misery the last few weeks that my tree pollen allergy has given me as evidence

reply to post by heyo


We have a lot of dying pine trees here, but only one species. The blue spruce seem un-affected. Would the pine beetle affect trees other than pine? This is sickening...

If someone was wanting to start a business, they should get a chain saw, truck and trailer. They would make a killing.

This topic set alarm bells ringing the moment I read it. Here in Liverpool my local cemetery has suddenly cut down all of the trees which skirted the main road. No explanation but the fact that the trees were supposedly dead and a danger to traffic.
Seems to me that we're being fed a load of bull**it about what is happening about are woods and forests, no matter where we live.

I have noticed alot of leaves have turned brown, but Im not sure if the trees have died.

It seems they bloomed good this spring, so what could have changed since then, there seems to be plenty of rain so far?

hmmmm

This past winter, there was an ice storm that was called "a once in a lifetime storm". There was not a tree in the path of this storm that was not touched. Everytree in this county was broken in some shape or form. They are leafed out now, but the damage is very very noticeable still!

reply to post by Greenize


Where do you live? I took into consideration the ice storm and paid careful attention during the nine hour drive home. When I got home the leaves weren't fully out, almost. Now they are all out and I see them dying. I see no difference 600 miles north of Nashville now. I'm no expert, but I know something is wrong. Very wrong. There are large sections of woods here that are dead. I pointed this out to my husband and he's pretty conservative and even he is alarmed now. I pointed this out to my daughter today and she is stunned. Once you point it out to people they see it, but I haven't heard anyone else mention it yet.

We have always noticed dead trees because we cut down dead trees for our woodstove. Now they are everywhere.

reply to post by hardamber



totally...they were harvesting them like mad before they did. You can tell a pine beetle affected 2x4 or whatever by a bluish line. A part of my career is framing houses and it's a little disconcerting to get a lift of them!!

I think the stumpage fees doubled in beetle-infested zones, and contracts were given out like mortgages in the states, if i may. That was in bc, canada, and i've been out of province for a couple of years. It seems it's still too cold for it to affect alberta too much (the next province to the east), but there are still articles on the subject..people are definately concerned.

reply to post by hardamber


I live in Western Kentucky, and we were all told after the storm, that if over a certain percentage of a tree is broken, the tree will die. My home is surrounded my woods, and a lot of the trees are dead now. That may not be the answer everywhere, but I think around here it is the reason...It truly sounded like bombs going off around here for days...the weight of the ice causing the trees to break! It was sad...

Actually, here in Florida it's greener than it's been for awhile.
The rains have finally hit like they used to, we're coming out of a drought that's lasted for along while.

reply to post by Greenize


I did not notice a difference between Kentucky and TN. I drove up I65, so I admit I did not see the whole state, just a sliver.

We had a nasty ice storm several years ago and the damage is nothing like what I'm seeing here. The tops of several trees are dead with no sign of breakage. They are just dead. The trees that are dying look almost like something is eating the leaves, but they are shriveling and dying in front of everyone and nobody is saying a word about it. I was sitting in my dad's backyard last weekend and was pointing out trees that were in distress and they were like, "oh" but no alarm from them.

I live in WY and work for a company that sprays for the pine beetle and removes the infested ones. What I have seen this spring has been pretty alarming, but it is something that has been developing for years now. The mountain pine beetle attacks various species of pine and spruce though I am not sure about firs. The majority of trees we spray are Ponderosa, Lodgepole, Blue Spruce, Englemen (sp?) Spruce, as well as Limber Pine. The National Forests out this way have been hit hard. The Shoshone (East of Yellowstone) is pretty bad, I'd say about 60% mortality. Rocky Mountain National Park is the hardest hit I've seen so far. The west side of the park is about 90% mortality. It's crazy, but being an ex-wildland firefighter, it is part of nature's cycle of forest stand replacement. Usually the forest has an onset of mortality (insects/drought/fuel overloading) and then has a stand replacing fire event. What this area is going through is a devastating occurrence due to over-suppression of fire for the last century.

We lost the ash trees in our area due to the emerald ash borer. Funny thing is that the tree in our yard that was lost showed none of the signs (other than basic withering) that were attributed to the insect (D-shaped exit holes). A decade-and-a-half ago or so, spraying was done, by helicopter for gypsy moths. The ash trees are now gone but the gyspy moths are back. I saw on T.V. yesterday that a new helicopter spraying campaign is under way to combat them.

Conspiracy angle:
Devastating pests are being deliberately imported to areas with vulnerable species in order to prop up the tree removal industry and/or there is something in the spray killing the trees long after exposure to the pesticide, possibly also for said reason.

[edit on 5/30/2009 by EnlightenUp]

reply to post by hardamber


It is strange to be reading this story...

Our Eco system is have problems, all you have to do is look around.

I am not an environmentalist, but commonsense dictates there is a problem.

The birds in our region of Texas disappear for 10-12 weeks, Spring 08. I research this issues...birds across the United States in areas disappeared, they did return. I am finding dead bats laying around the city, bats are also having issues. Bee colonies and amphibians around the world are dying/thinning out

I am not trying to spread fear, just awareness!

OP, I hope I am not off topic, if so, then I apologize!

Ciao!

As our climate becomes warmer, the insect population will thrive.

Something the South, Midwest, and Mid-Atlantic are experiencing as we write in the thread.

A couple of very harsh Winters would keep this critters in-check.

Ciao!

I live in Kentucky, and I've noticed some trees dying, but I thought it was because of the severe ice storm we had this winter.

My folks also live in Kentucky...just a few miles from Tennessee, and there's some kind of weed that's rampant where they live that's climbing up the trees...from the base all the way to the top...and my mom said that this weed is killing them. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the weed she's talking about, and I can't find a photo of it either. Maybe someone here will know.

Here's some information about a "bug invasion" here in Kentucky that's causing a lot of problems for our trees.

Here's a recent article about hemlock trees in Kentucky dying rapidly.

Finally, Here's a recent article which suggests that "climate change" is killing trees in the U.S.

Not around my parts, plenty of nice healthy trees.

I have noticed the same thing here in lower alabama. My dogwood tree ( only about 5ft.) is having problems. The leaves are green but brownish-black and curled up on the edges and only on one side of the tree. All the others are fine except the gardenia bushes. It is like it has been burned on the edges? Never seen it before. Also (hope not off topic), there are big circle spaces on ground that the grass is gone now. This might sound crazy but it kind of looks like miniture crop circle designs. If I could get up high enough i could maybe make out the designs. It looks like something real hot just burned the grass but they are circles. Not just in my yard either.

reply to post by imysbbad


This is exactly the way I would describe the leaves here. They are curling and drying up.

What could be the cause? Fungus/blight? I've noticed this problem in my garden. I get beautiful tomatoes but by summer's end the leaves are all dried up and crispy. My sweet cherries have been getting moldy way before they get ripe. The sour cherries are fine. The apple trees get circles on the leaves and crispy looking too.

I have had my share of theories about this; the mosquito spraying they do on our road, or maybe even chemtrails.

I just wish I knew what to do about it.