Forest Health Highlights 1997
Tennessee
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture Division of Forestry provides forest health protection assistance to state and private land managers within the State. This program is funded cooperatively by the State and the USDA Forest Service Forest Health Protection unit.
Tennessee Forest Facts
Almost
1/2 of Tennessee is forested (more than 13.2 million acres).
Tennessee's
tree species diversity rivals the whole European continent.
Over
85% of forested acreage in Tennessee is privately owned.
Small landowners comprise the largest group.
The
Cherokee National Forest (556,000 acres) provides recreational
and wildlife benefits as well as forest products industry jobs for thousands
of people.
Oak
decline is impacting timber and recreation in Tennessee. Oak decline
results in dieback and mortality of the larger mature oaks. A complex
of factors such as spring drought, frost, insect defoliation, and secondary
agents such as root disease and wood boring insects contribute to the
disease. The latest forest survey (1989) indicated that nearly 9% (738,600
acres) of vulnerable oak forests is affected. This disease will become
more prevalent as these forests continue to mature.
Another
threat to the hardwood-dominated forests of Tennessee is the gypsy
moth. The State works closely with the USDA Forest Service to monitor
and quickly identify any accidental introductions of the gypsy moth. There
have been several successful large eradication projects in the past 4
years. In 1997, gypsy moth was detected at 40 separate locations in Middle
and East Tennessee.
Dogwood
anthracnose infects and destroys one of the states most economically
and ecologically important trees, the flowering dogwood. The disease is
currently found in 52 counties in eastern half of the State. The 1997
annual plot survey of dogwood anthracnose within the infected counties
found 39% of the trees dead from dogwood anthracnose .
The
southern pine beetle is the most damaging insect pest in the State.
While only 221 acres were infested in 1997, the insect periodically reaches
outbreak status in which thousands of infestations can develop over multi-county
areas. Such a situation existed in Great Smoky Mountains National Park
and Oak Ridge National Laboratory from 1992 to 1994.
The Tennessee Division of Forestry
and USDA Forest Service
In spite of the relatively good health of Tennessee's forests, a variety of insects and diseases (both native and introduced), and human-caused impacts such as air pollution, continue to threaten the State's resources. To deal with this constantly changing mix of challenges, the TDA Division of Forestry and the Forest Health Protection unit of the USDA Forest Service cooperate to prevent, detect, suppress and manage this multitude of threats. The partnership between the two agencies has worked for three decades to maintain and improve the health of Tennessee's forests.
Forest Health Protection contributions (dollars) to the TDA Division of Forestry Cooperative Forest Health program, cooperative pest suppression/eradication projects, and Cherokee National Forest suppression/eradication projects, 1995-98.