Forest Health

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The Mississippi Forestry Commission assists Mississippi timber owners in forest pest management by conducting forest pest surveys and evaluations.  Landowners with timber damaged by forest pest will be informed of the location of the damage.  Recommendations for practices on how to salvage timber and reduce/prevent damage from forest pest will be provided to landowners upon request.

Mississippi Forestry Commission's Forest Health Program Species of Concern

• Cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica)

  • Landowners Assistance Program for  Attala, Choctaw, Clay, Jasper, Kemper, Lauderdale, Leake, Lowndes, Neshoba, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Rankin, Simpson, Smith, Wayne, Webster and Winston Counties. (Updated: 2/10/2011)  

  •  Notice: The MFC has stopped accepting applications for the free cogongrass treatment program as of 6/30/2011. Any application must be postmarked no later than that date. Any applications we receive after that date will be held for future funding projects and the landowners will be notified of that.

• Kudzu (Pueraria Montana)

• Chinese Tallow (Triadica sebifers)

• Privet – Chinese/European (Ligustrum sinense)

• Privet – Japanese/Glossy ( Ligustrium japonicum

• Japanese Climbing Fern (Lygodium japonicum

Other Forest Health Concerns:

• Laurel Wilt Disease and Redbay Ambrosia Beetle

  •  Pest Alert - The Redbay Ambrosia Beetle has arrived in Mississippi in Jackson County. (posted 8/12/2009)

  • Press Release - Disease Killing Redbay Trees Makes First Appearance In Mississippi. (posted 8/12/2009)

• The Southern Pine Beetle: Cost sharing pine thinning operations for southern pine beetle prevention in North Mississippi. (Posted 1/22/2010)

Recent Forest Health Articles:

• The Danger of Moving Firewood (Posted 1/12/2012)
• Nantucket Pine Tip Moth Recommendations (Posted 12/21/2011)
• Update 2011 - Redbay Ambrosia Beetle and Laurel Wilt Disease in Mississippi (Posted 11/1/2011)
• Exotic Pest of Pines Threatens North American Pines (Posted 11/1/2011)
• Formosan Termites: A Chronic Problem in Mississippi (Posted 10/18/2011)
• Walnut Twig Beetle and Thousand Cankers Disease Expand Foothold in Eastern U.S.A (Posted 8/9/2011)
• Mississippi Southern Pine Beetle Predictions for 2011 (Posted 7/7/2001)
• Periodical Cicadas Creating a Buzz in Mississippi Forests (Posted 5/4/2011)

• Risky Business:  The National Insect and Disease Risk Map For 2011 (Posted 5/3/2011)

• Black Twig Borer (Posted 4/11/2011)

• Asian Long-Horned Beetle (Posted 02/07/2011)

• Keep An Eye Out For Sudden Oak Death (Posted 01/01/2011)

Click Here for More Articles

Other Publications:

• Mississippi's 10 Worst Invasive Weeds (Mississippi State University Extension Service)

For more information on the Forest Health Program, contact:

Randy Chapin

District Forester, Southwest

P.O. Box 749

515 County Farm Lane NE

Brookhaven, Mississippi 39602-0749

(601) 833-6621 office

rchapin@mfc.state.ms.us