18 Million Trees In California Killed By Drought, Beetles In 2018; 147 Million Since Drought Began

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service said on Monday that an additional 18 million trees, mostly conifers, have died in California since fall 2017. This brings the total tree mortality in the state to 147 million across 9.7 million acres of land since California's drought began in 2010.

The state's drought officially ended during the 2016-2017 winter, but persistent below-average precipitation in 2017 and 2018 slowed the recovery of surviving trees in California, the department said. Wade Crowfoot, California Natural Resources secretary, said that the drought, along with a bark beetle "epidemic," has "caused one of the largest tree die-offs in state history."

Bark beetles are small insects that reproduce under the bark of trees. Among the 600 species of bark beetle, several attack and kill live trees. According to the Forest Service, these insects have affected tens of millions of acres of forest.

Randy Moore, Pacific Southwest regional forester of the USDA Forest Service, said that the department is "focused on increasing the pace and scale of ecological restoration" across California. Restoration efforts include thinning dense areas to promote the growth of healthy forests that are more relient to wildfires, droughts and bark beetle outbreaks.

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https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2019-02-12/drought-and-beetle-epidemic-killed-18-million-trees-in-california-in-2018?int=98f508

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1. nature has a tried and true method to clean up all those dead trees - fire nt