Long Island Pine Barrens Southern Pine Beetle Control

Crews from DEC Lands & Forests and the Central Pine Barrens Commission worked last month in the Long Island Central Pine Barrens to prevent the spread of southern pine beetle. Southern pine beetle (SPB) is a bark beetle that infests pine trees, killing a tree within 2-4 months. Since SPB was first found in Long Island in 2014, DEC has been managing the Central Pine Barrens using forest thinning and prescribed fire.

The Central Pine Barrens is a fire-dependent ecosystem and requires regular low-intensity forest fires to create and maintain a healthy pine barrens system. A historical suppression of natural fire and lack of forest management has caused much of the pine barrens to become densely packed with overcrowded and weakened trees.

Crowded forest conditions allow SPB to move from tree to tree easily, infesting large areas and increasing their populations dramatically. Forest thinning and returning fire to the landscape creates a healthy pine barrens ecosystem and makes it difficult for SPB to spread from tree to tree. SPB’s natural range is expanding due to climate change, so suppressing population numbers in Long Island will help slow or prevent the spread to more northern areas of the state.

Last March, field crews added 96.5 acres of restored forest to the 150 restored acres from previous years. This will make the forest more resilient against attack from SPB in the future.

Photos, from above: crew member cutting a pitch pine tree; and southern pine beetle bark damage courtesy DEC.