Kansas Agency Urging Removal of Dead Pine Trees

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – The Kansas Department of Agriculture is
urging residents to remove dead pine trees in April to prevent the
spread of disease.
Trees that are killed by pine wilt can become hosts to the pine
sawyer beetle, which spreads the disease from tree to tree. The
agency says pine wilt disease has been established in the eastern
half of Kansas but can be controlled.
Plant pathologist Jon Appel says pine sawyer beetles typically
emerge from dead trees in May and continue through July.
The Agriculture Department recommends removing and cleaning up
dead pine branches more than an inch in diameter. Dead pine wood
can be chipped and buried, or taken to landfills to be burned. But
the chips should not be used as mulch on pine, or used as firewood.