Town, County Ally To Fight Pine Beetles

In the past two years, the destructive southern pine beetle—a species native to the forests of the southern United States—has burrowed its way well into Suffolk County, in particular the Central Pine Barrens and residents’ backyards in western Southampton Town.

“The devastation is just extraordinary,” Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said at a Town Board meeting this week. “Our area will be barren of pines if we don’t do something.”

The board voted that day to authorize the supervisor to set up a task force along with the Central Pine Barrens Joint Planning and Policy Commission to work to manage the infestation. An agreement between the town and the commission notes that widespread destruction of native trees can hurt wildlife habitat and that, “in addition to the biological and ecological demise, dead trees can fall, and their limbs could result in public safety concerns within the town, as well as increase the potential for wildfires.”

Residents of Flanders, Riverside and Hampton Bays have been particularly plagued by pine beetle infestations, Mr. Schneiderman said, and the task force will alleviate confusion about where to express their concerns.

Southern pine beetles are tiny insects that burrow tunnels behind the bark of trees, blocking the flow of nutrients and typically killing a tree in two to four months. Specifically affected is the native pitch pine, one of the dominant tree species in Suffolk County, the Central Pine Barrens and the town.

“It’s been pretty widespread,” said John Pavacic, executive director of the Central Pine Barrens Commission. “Since there are no effective pesticides to fight the beetles, the main way of controlling the spread is to cut down actively infested trees.”

He said the agreement with the town is preliminary, but could serve as a model for partnership with other municipalities going forward.

For now, the two entities will set up a task force composed of town personnel and officials who would be responsible for responding to and managing infestation. One member will serve as the chair of the task force, which will allow the commission to access properties to do surveys, inspections and monitoring.

Also planned are public outreach and education programs, as well as ecological restoration by replanting native species.

Dan Gilrein, the interim associate agricultural program director at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County, said that as the beetle population grows, small numbers can travel long distances and settle in new areas.

“I don’t think anybody really knows how far they can and will move,” he said. “We’ve seen them as far north as the Hudson Valley.”

“There’s definitely an environmental component of what is going on,” Mr. Gilrein added. “We don’t get the low temperatures as much as we used to. It’s probably why they were able to establish themselves so far north.”