Education is Key to Halting Pine Pitch Canker Disease

Public education about ways to slow the spread of pine pitch canker disease infecting Monterey pine and other trees in coastal California's counties is one of the best available means for controlling the fungus, the California Biodiversity Council was advised at its meeting in December.

Russ Henly, policy analyst with the Fire and Resource Assessment Program in the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF), said the council could help to coordinate and publicize efforts to halt the spread of pine pitch canker.

Pine pitch canker, which attacks woody parts of trees, such as branches, trunks, and cones, has infected trees in 17 coastal and adjacent counties from San Diego to Mendocino. Hundreds of trees have died and thousands more are infected.

The disease is readily visible when it attacks the branches of Monterey pine, turning them brown at the tips. Besides Monterey pine, the disease infects Bishop pine and Douglas fir.

"It cannot be eradicated, and it's spreading," Henly told the council. "At this time, education is probably the most important tool in halting the spread."

In December, the Pine Pitch Canker Task Force of local, state, federal, and nonprofit entities advised California residents to take precautions when disposing of Monterey pine, being careful not to take the trees out of the area where they were purchased. Discarded trees should be promptly buried in a landfill, composted as green waste, or chipped for mulch at home.

Council Chair Doug Wheeler said the public should be alerted though California Biodiversity News and CERES, the on-line system at http://ceres.ca.gov, to the characteristics of the disease and advised of ways to avoid contaminating healthy trees. Agencies represented on the Council, such as the CDF, U.S. Forest Service, state Departments of Parks and Recreation and Fish and Game, and University of California could also help to publicize the disease.

Pine pitch canker does not infect humans, pets, or other plants. While most scientists agree that disaster is not imminent, they don't agree just how serious it is, Henly said. An important question is the potential for the disease to infect and harm or kill conifers in areas such as the Sierra Nevada.

Since the disease cannot be eradicated, the Pine Pitch Canker Task Force recommends developing pine pitch canker-resistant trees and regenerating native stands of Monterey pine to preserve genetic diversity and ecosystem integrity.

More research is needed, but funding is lacking, Henly told the council. Devastation of Monterey pine in wildland and urban areas could hurt tourism and property values in addition to environmental concerns, he said. Monterey pine stands are home to four state-listed plant species and two plants proposed for federal listing, Henly said.

Read it again at http://ceres.ca.gov/biodiv/newsletter/v4n3/