Climate Change Ends Forest Threat and Saves Funds

Mountain Pine Beetle

For now. Another climate panic collapses: recent harsh winters have killed off invasive pine beetles thought to be linked to global warming

by Dr. Roger Roots, Lysander Spooner University

A decade ago, folks in northern states such as Minnesota, South and North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho were watching large swaths of their pine forests die off due to invasive pine beetles. The pine beetles bored beneath the bark of pine trees and introduced a fungus and larvae which weakened and then killed the trees.

Millions of pine trees were killed, prompting environmentalists and state and federal government agencies to link the invasive beetles to catastrophic-manmade-global-warming-by-carbon dioxide. Science Magazine warned that “Climate Change Sends Beetles Into Overdrive” (Mar. 16, 2012). The U.S. Forest Service launched numerous web pages under a “Bark Beetles and Climate Change in the United States” designation.

Pine Beetle Larvae, and damage

State and federal agencies collected and spent millions of dollars to mitigate the effects of the beetles. Several states amassed funds in designated ‘beetle epidemic’ accounts.

But colder weather accomplished what the agencies could not. Five years of harsh winters have mostly killed off the beetles in the north woods. Most foresters declared the end of the beetle epidemic around 2017. Almost no one seemed to link the END of the epidemic to earlier claims regarding a link to the CO2 apocalypse.

Now the State of South Dakota has $700,000 remaining in a ‘pine beetle fund’ which was never used. Last week the South Dakota legislature debated about what to do with the excess money. The debate was the topic of Tuesday’s top front page in the Rapid City Journal.

I remember when, as a child, pine beetles were considered a big threat to the pines near our vacation home in the San Bernardino Mountains. As I recall, the threat faded away there too, at least for a while, although I don't recall a cold winter being involved.

New Forest Plan for Chesapeake Bay

New forest plan for bay

In order to help the Chesapeake Bay, there's a new plan for adding forests and trees around the watershed. The Chesapeake Bay Forest Restoration Strategy was approved earlier this month by state foresters and federal officials.

Forests are important to the health of the bay because they slow and absorb stormwater and suck up excess nitrogen in the soil. They also provide habitat for wildlife and boost air quality.  "More forests means cleaner water for the Chesapeake Bay. Further, in this watershed, enhancing urban forests is of particular importance," U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell said in a statement.

The Chesapeake Bay's 64,000-square-mile watershed was once 95 percent forested. Today, about 55 percent of the Chesapeake Bay's watershed remains forested. The watershed is losing forests at a rate of 100 acres per day.

I'd like a few more details  How do they intend to make more forests?  Buy up old ag land? Forests pay poorly in this region; the trees aren't terribly good lumber, and so there is a lot of pressure on a land owner to find a way to make revenue some other way, developing it, or putting it into agriculture.

When I arrived in MD, back in the 80's it was dogma that forests were increasing in the bay watershed, as abandoned field were converted to forests. I'm curious how much "redefining" land use has contributed to the shift. 

Here's a pretty cool interactive mapping tool to examine the forested and developed areas in Maryland, from 1973 to 2010.