What can an individual landowner do to protect trees on their property?
That depends on a handful of variable factors. For example, if a landowner chooses to, one could treat individual trees with insecticides to prevent bark beetle attacks. Or, another strategy is to water trees to bolster their natural defenses. (However, watering does not guarantee protection because a mass attack of bark beetles can overwhelm even a healthy, thriving tree and kill it.) It is also important to remember that no amount of spraying or watering will help save a tree once the beetle has infested it. Another way to protect a stand of trees is to thin the smaller and less healthy trees to give the remaining trees a better chance to regain enough vigor to fight off beetle attacks. Slash should be removed, burned or chipped and dried. Slash is also a beneficial component to vegetation restoration and erosion control.
