We’ve just got over an exceptionally long drought. Droughts weaken trees and make them more susceptible to insects. If we get a few more years of good rainfall they should recover. Not exactly rocket science.
Texas had the same thing happen and the bigger and older they are, the more prone to sudden die off they become under stress from drought. They’re also more susceptible to insects and various blights. They’re going to lose a lot of trees yet, some historic, but most will be little worse for wear in a few years assuming normal rainfall continues.
But it’s still illegal to remove the dead trees.
Not to worry, this summer all the plants that burst into life with the rains will dry out and the resulting wildfires will take care of the dead trees and sooooooo much more!
But it’s still illegal to remove the dead trees.
Not to worry, this summer all the plants that burst into life with the rains will dry out and the resulting wildfires will take care of the dead trees and sooooooo much more!
The same thing happened to a lot of tall firs on our property a few years ago. After a couple dry years a number of them died. My neighbor who believes he knows everything told me they were dying of "tree blight". When I removed the bark from one of the dead trees I had to cut down... I found that it was infested with bark beetles. I had seen some of the beetles around in the months before but did not realize what they were.