MAY 2015

Drought kills 12 million trees in California’s national forests

Dying trees

U.S. Forest Service

A ridge on Laguna Mountain in the Cleveland National Forest is covered with dead Jeffrey pine trees, foreground, with a recent fire scar in the background.

 By Veronica Rocha and Hailey Branson-Potts

JUNE 2015

Drought begins to kill redwoods and other iconic trees while state’s forest fire risk rises

Anne C. Mulkern, E&E reporter

ClimateWire: Thursday, June 4, 2015

Along California’s central coast near the beach city of Cambria stands a swath of Monterey pine trees, one of three groupings of the native trees left in the world.

The site has been protected for years from tree cutting because of its rarity. Now, in the fourth year of the Golden State’s drought, those trees that cover nearly 15 square acres are as much as 90 percent dead, their needles turned from green to grayish-white.

It’s the stuff of nightmares for Mark Miller, fire chief for the Cambria Community Services District Fire Department.

“I’m extremely worried,” Miller said. “I’m freaked out by it.” Read more.

Watch vídeo: BEETLE – Our Future Forests: Beyond Bark Beetles  HERE

More info: U.S. Drought Monitor