Very Scary

[Den Socling]

The December issue of Discover magazine has an article titled "If all the trees fall". It's about a new forest plague called Sudden Oak Death. Worst yet, it's not confined to oaks.

I don't know what good it will do if everyone is informed but it's better than nothing and I feel that something major had better be done quickly. This is a very serious pathogen that threatens all forest. I suggest that you read this article.

[swampwhiteoak]

We talked about this once before https://forestryforum.com/cgi-bin/board/YaBB.pl?board=Business;action=display;num=1010588425

I don't think too much new has happened, but it is a very scary disease for people who live where oak is an important resource.  This is a good website:
www.suddenoakdeath.org

[Den Socling]

In September, they added Douglas fir to the list of infected species. And rhododendrons in Europe.

[Paul_H]

White Pine has been hard hit in BC.It is rare to see a healthy green Pine.There are alot of large snags,and you can tell they were a fine tree at one time.

The young Pine that come up in plantations grow fast,and keep up with the Fir,until they are infected.

WHITE PINE BLISTER RUST

[Ron Wenrich]

Sudden oak death seems to be limited to a stretch 50 miles from the Pacific and prefers the moist areas.  It is also found in rhodendron and arrowwood in Germany and the Netherlands.  It may have come from nurserys there and imported to the US.  Not known for sure.

http://www.coastalconservancy.ca.gov/coast&ocean/winter2002/pages/one.htm  has a pretty good article on it.

I would think that if stock was introduced on the West Coast, it certainly would have been introduced on the East Coast by this time.

[Corley5]

We've got blister rust around here.  You don't see a lot of it but it's here.  Back in the 40s my Great Great Uncle worked for the Dept of Conservation and supervised prison work crews who among other things pulled goose berry bush that are the intermediate host of the blister rust.  He also supervised them pruning plantation red pine and operated a dozer and disc keeping the fireline/section lines worked up.