MANAGE FORESTS & LAND

  • Texas A&M Forest Service Forest Health was established in 1962 to deal with an increasing southern pine beetle problem in Southeast Texas. Since then, responsibilities have expanded to include assistance for all major forest health issues throughout the state. 

     

    Forest Health addresses native and non-native invasive species (such as the recent detection of the emerald ash borer), insects, and diseases that threaten the state’s forests. TFS foresters and specialists are the preferred source of information on all forest health issues that affect the growth and survival of trees, woodlands and forests throughout Texas.

     

    Forest health issues may occur throughout the state, principally affecting the commercial forests of East Texas and the woodlands of Central and West Texas. In East Texas, TFS foresters deliver the federally funded Southern Pine Beetle Prevention Cost Share Program which provides financial incentives to encourage private landowners to thin young, dense pine stands. Timely thinning promotes tree vigor and rapid growth, making pine stands less susceptible to attacks by this destructive forest pest. Within the woodlands of Central Texas, TFS foresters administer a USDA Forest Service-sponsored program to manage oak wilt, a disease that kills oaks across much of the U.S.

     

    The Forest Pest Management Cooperative provides leadership and guidance on forest health issues to the forest industry and large private landowners in East Texas. Currently, membership dues support efforts aimed at solving forest health problems affecting urban and commercial forests throughout the state.