Support for LAist comes from
Local and national news, NPR, things to do, food recommendations and guides to Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire
Stay Connected
Listen
Podcasts Take Two
Bark beetles wreak havoc on California forests
solid orange rectangular banner
()
Mar 25, 2015
Listen 4:08
Bark beetles wreak havoc on California forests
Intense drought can cause a population explosion among the beetles. The beetles use the trees as host material, eating their way deep inside, and weakening it.
Flickr/Cyndy Sims Parr
Flickr/Cyndy Sims Parr
(
Flickr/Cyndy Sims Parr
)

Intense drought can cause a population explosion among the beetles. The beetles use the trees as host material, eating their way deep inside, and weakening it.

Pine trees in the Sierra Nevada are under assault from the Bark Beetle. Over the years, insect infestations have killed million of trees from Arizona to Alaska. But as the California drought enters its fourth year, the northern pines have been particularly hard hit because this beetle apparently likes a good dry spell. 

Sheri Smith, the regional entomologist for the Forest Service, joined the show to tell us more about their impact on California forests.