02/15/2024
Sad to see so many dead pine trees around and it’s going to be worse. There is an interactive map on the report that shows just how devastating it has become.
The Forestry Drought/Pine Beetle Crisis. You’ve already seen the unprecedented dead pine trees across our State. Millions of drought induced beetle-infested trees threaten our State’s forestry industry. Depending on the year, the Mississippi forestry business consistently ranks as the number 2 or 3 industry in the State of Mississippi. Our friends at the Mississippi Forestry Commission recently completed a major study showing the devastation of the 2023 Drought and Pine Beetle infestation. If not removed, the beetles in the dead pines will spread this Spring and Summer causing even more devastation. This is a matter of serious threat to our forestry industry as a whole.
There are no existing federal farm bill programs to help get these trees down or mitigate the damages. Our good U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith introduced federal legislation, and today I am asking our State Legislators to show their support for our tree farmers and the forestry industry by crafting legislation to address this crisis before it becomes worse.
You can read the full MFC report here: https://www.mfc.ms.gov/2024/02/2024-pine-mortality-report/
