Some 26 million trees in the southern Sierra Nevada region of California have died since last October due to drought, insect damage and hotter-than-normal weather, according to an aerial survey by the Forest Service, bringing the state total to 66 million dead trees. “Tree die-offs of this magnitude are unprecedented and increase the risk of catastrophic wildfires,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
With additional surveys planned across the state, Forest Service scientists said they expected to see continued high levels of tree mortality. The agency tallied 40 million tree deaths in California from 2010-15, an historic level of tree die-offs, with three-fourths dying from September 2014-October 2015. The addition of the southern Sierra Nevada is on top of that previous tally. Four years of drought, a dramatic increase in infestations by the pine bark beetle and high temperatures were factors, said the Forest Service.
The May survey of the southern Sierra Nevada covered 760,000 acres in Fresno, Kern, Madera, Mariposa, Tuolomne and Tulare counties.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee scheduled a hearing today on a draft wildfire-budgeting bill. Vilsack has called for a new funding system for fighting wildfires. At present, USDA has to shift money out of other Forest Service accounts when a severe fire season depletes the firefighting account. When that happens, says Vilsack, the Forest Service is short-changed on funding for work to prevent fires.