Insects destroying large stands of trees in Washington forests

Pests are killing vast numbers of trees in Washington and forest managers are working on a plan to fight back.

State Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark said two ravenous insects are doing a lot of the damage, the Spruce Budworm and the Mountain Pine Bark Beetle.

“We’ve watched this happen in British Columbia,” said Goldmark. “It decimated the forests up there, we have to be more proactive down here.”

Scientists met in Ellensburg Monday to discuss solutions. Goldmark suggested aggressive thinning would remove infested trees. “We want to go in and remove the bad material, thin it out, so that the healthy, larger trees can withstand the attacks and become more resilient.”

The lands commissioner said forest protection policy is partly responsible for the problem.

“We suppress fires and because of that, the stands of trees in our forests become more dense and they become more susceptible to damage from drought or from insects because there’s more stress on the individual trees in a dense stand,” explained Goldmark.

Goldmark said forest health has been deteriorating for decades. “It is causing a greatly increased risk of wildfire, it’s destroying property, both public and private property and it really threatens the welfare of our forests.”

Goldmark wants to start the process of improving forest health this year, an effort he says would also create jobs in some of the most economically depressed parts of the state.