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NEWS RELEASE USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region 1323 Club Drive, Vallejo, CA 94592

Contact: Matt Mathes  707-562-9004

ISOLATED CASE OF PITCH CANKER MARKS FIRST FIND IN SIERRA NEVADA

VALLEJO, Calif., March 3, 2004--USDA Forest Service (FS) officials have confirmed the discovery of the pitch canker pathogen on two Douglas-fir trees at the Badger Hill seed orchard on the Eldorado National Forest. Visual inspections and laboratory tests to date have found no further trace of the fungal disease in any other trees in the area. Additional tests are underway. The two infected trees were cut and then burned to destroy them.

Pitch canker, first reported in Calfornia in 1986, is widespread along the California coast from San Francisco to San Luis Obispo, where it weakens and kills Monterey pine trees. The discovery in the Sierra Nevada foothills is the first such find there. It came to light last November, when the New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry reported the presence of the pathogen in a Douglas-fir cutting imported from Badger Hill. The quarantined cuttings were destroyed, and New Zealand has suspended further imports of host material.

"While there is no immediate cause for alarm, we are concerned about the possible spread of spores by wind or insects, as well as by movement of infested soil and plant materials," said Julie Lydick, assistant director for state and private forestry in FS's Pacific Southwest Region. "We are working with FS and UC Davis researchers, the state of California and the forest industry to survey and monitor for pitch canker, determine the scope of the threat and find ways to protect trees in the Sierra Nevada."

Douglas-fir is much less susceptible to pitch canker than pine trees, and the species is not a prime host. While Douglas-fir symptoms are minimal and typically limited to branch tip dieback, laboratory results indicate that Sierra Nevada pine species may be more susceptible. Treatments are limited, so prevention efforts focus on controlling the movement of host material, reducing carrier (beetle) breeding material, planting non-susceptible tree species and selecting resistant trees. Because the pathogen appears to prefer moist, warm environments, the climate in the Sierra Nevada may limit the impact there.

More information on pitch canker is available at the Pitch Canker Task Force website at www.frap.cdf.ca.gov/pitch_canker/.

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