Alabama Landowners Develop Ideas to Outsmart Pine Beetles

As a fan of the show "Planet Earth", which happens to be the greatest show in the history of television, a little creature can wreak a lot of havoc.

Let me background you on some key facts:

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The Alabama Forest Owners’ Association is a non-profit association, dedicated to providing management and ownership assistance to current and future owners of forest land.

Forests cover 71 percent of Alabama. They produce clean water, clean air, diverse wildlife habitat, and raw materials for thousands of jobs.

 

Alabamians are fortunate that most forestland in our state is owned by individuals and families across small Alabama communities.

The Southern pine beetle caused significant damage to Alabama's forests last year. But the good news is that beetle outbreaks occur in cycles. If that tendency holds true, this year could be a much better year for landowners.

These forest pests also depend on drought conditions. Last year, landowners suffered a particularly severe drought season. If Alabama does not experience back-to-back years of drought, forest pest populations could lessen.

Dana Stone from the Alabama Forestry Commission will speak on using the latest science and old-fashioned hard work to battle pine beetle infestations at the Annual Meeting of the Alabama Forest Owners’ Association in Tuscaloosa on April 23rd.

Beetle populations surge in dense over mature stands caused by a lack of markets for timber products.

Without markets for trees, landowners have no opportunity to improve their stands and promote healthy growth. However, with many new mill openings and other mills expanding their capacity, there may be more opportunities for landowners to harvest trees and maintain healthy forests.

Stone will join this gathering of forest owners to talk about this threat and how landowners can best combat any outbreaks on their land and promote forest health.

Nobody knows more about these issues than she does so do not miss the opportunity to pick her brain on this topic.