Thousands Of Acres Of Trees Dying In Lincoln National Forest

Forest officials said thousands upon thousands of acres of trees are dying in Lincoln National Forest. The killers: tiny bark beetles, each one smaller than the nail of a pinky finger.

The number of acres of dying trees rose from 380 in 2010 to 41,000 last year, forest officials said.

Local, state, and national forest officials held a community meeting Tuesday in Ruidoso to discuss the bark beetle outbreak in the Sacramento Mountains. Officials told ABC-7 that last year’s extreme dry conditions are a major factor.

“The trees in the Sacramento Mountains are extremely stressed right now. When trees are stressed, they are more susceptible to insects, disease and, of course, fire,” National Forestry Official Dan Ware said.

Ware said different kinds of bark beetles are killing various species of trees in the forest, including the Douglas fir and the white fir. However, the most drastic die-offs have been seen in the Ponderosa pine tree population.

The bark beetles search for trees that are already stressed. They enter the trees through the bark and release a poison that stops the tree from creating sap. A healthy tree is able to push the bugs out by creating that sap. When the trees are weak, they cannot fight back. Once the bugs have found a susceptible tree, they send out a signal to the other beetles, which swarm in and eat the tree’s nutrients, eventually killing it.

Ware said the massive number of dead trees is a safety hazard. The dry bark is more likely to catch fire in dry conditions. There is also a high risk of the tall trees falling over and causing damage to nearby properties.

Forest officials said that concerned residents with dying trees can set up drip irrigation systems to ensure their trees get enough water to defend themselves. But there is no easy way to protect trees from the bark beetles.

“There are pesticides out there that can be effective. However, for it to work you need to saturate the tree from top to bottom. You can’t just give it a quick spray and walk away,” Ware said.

Ware said that if drought conditions continue the way they have been, the bark beetle infestation is expected to get worse.