Dead, red trees signal an increasingly dire outbreak driven by warm summers and plentiful spruce, especially in the Susitna Valley.
The latest tally of beetle kill shows more than 550,000 acres of forest with dead spruce from the ongoing infestation this year alone, much of it in Mat-Su.
This season the birch pollen has been particularly bad. Some people with asthma have had to leave the state. The peak was May 18 when pollen counts were 974 grains per cubic meter.
An early melt-out date can make for an especially bad wildfire season, but this year, it’s right on schedule for much of the state. Listen now
The European black slug was first introduced into Alaska in the 1980s in Cordova, Slowik said. It eventually made its way to Juneau and Ketchikan, likely hitching a ride on fishing gear, and is now prevalent across Southeast. A few years ago, people started seeing the slug in Whittier and Girdwood.
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