Managing Forests In The Age Of The Southern Pine Beetle

The Southern Pine Beetle is a tiny insect, but its impact is anything but small. Often described as the most destructive forest pest in the southeastern United States, the beetle bores through the bark of pine trees and introduces a fungus that quickly kills its host. Outbreaks can spread fast, turning once-healthy forests into graveyards of standing dead timber. The damage isn’t just visual—these infestations cost landowners millions of dollars, disrupt wildlife habitat, and raise the risk of wildfire. As beetle populations surge due to a rise in average temperatures, more and more landowners are forced to decide: how do you restore a forest after devastation, and what does recovery look like when the threat of another outbreak is always on the horizon?

Southern pine beetle outbreaks have a profound and often devastating impact on landowners across the Southeast. For those who depend on pine forests for timber production, the arrival of the beetle means not just the loss of trees, but a direct hit to their livelihoods. Infestations can cause millions of dollars in timber losses—one major outbreak from 1999 to 2002 resulted in more than one billion dollars in losses for the timber industry in the southeastern U.S., according to the U.S. Forest Service.

For landowners like Raymond Tindel who manages his family operation of more than 1,300 acres of planted pine, the impact is personal and generational. “The majority is loblolly, with some slash and just recently some southern longleaf,” Tindel explained. This land was assembled by his father starting in the 1930s, transforming old farmland and pasture into productive forest. “I grew up on this land and I have an emotional attachment to it. I feel a responsibility for it, both to keep it productive and to pass it on in good condition to future generations.” For families like this, the forest is not just an asset, but a legacy and a way of life.

“A lot of the forest land in the southeast is privately owned, and in Georgia, you know, forestry is one of our biggest industries, and so having an insect like Southern Pine Beetle do the damage that it does, it really impacts private landowners that have invested in forestry,” says Ryan Phillips, cost share coordinator at the Georgia Forestry Commission. 

If managing the financial fallout from infestations becomes too difficult, many landowners may feel compelled to divide and sell their forested land. This fragmentation threatens the continuity of forest ecosystems and makes it harder to maintain these lands as forests over time. Strong markets for forest products—like lumber and pulp—play a vital role in sustaining forest ownership and stewardship. As Lauren Marshall, director of landscape restoration with the Arbor Day Foundation, points out, “Viable forest product markets are crucial to providing the economic resources landowners need to manage and maintain healthy, resilient forests. When forestlands provide reliable economic value, there is less pressure to sell them off or convert them to other land uses, preventing deforestation and forest fragmentation.”

For many private landowners, especially those who aren’t full-time forest managers, the cost of removing trees and replanting can be overwhelming. Logging operations are expensive and replanting entire tracts of forest after a beetle outbreak is a daunting and costly process. For the Tindel family, this meant not only treating infestations, “one of my youthful responsibilities…was to tramp over the woodlands with a small pressure sprayer looking for infestations, and then spray, spray, spray,” but also coping with the frustration of seeing years of work undone in a single season, especially during dry summers when outbreaks were worst.

Leonard stresses that catching outbreaks early is critical. “It becomes an issue especially for absentee landowners or industrial landowners that aren't on the property every day. One reason why having a consulting forester that is going to help you care for your property is so important. If you don't catch an outbreak quickly it can cause real damage, and you can lose a stand quickly.” He describes the standard containment strategy: “Remove and burn trees on site, then cut a buffer of healthy trees 150 to 200 feet from affected trees. The best thing to do is prevention. Plant at lower densities initially, and thin your trees as early as practical.”

This is where the Arbor Day Foundation steps in. Through partnerships like those with the Georgia Forestry Commission, the Foundation funds cost-sharing programs to help cover the expense of replanting – providing seedlings, technical assistance, and performance checks that enable landowners to recoup some of their costs and restore their forests. 

These efforts help landowners maintain their property as forest, ensuring ecological and economic benefits continue into the future.

For landowners who have struggled with southern pine beetle outbreaks for decades, these resources offer much-needed support and make recovery after an infestation far more achievable. 

Despite these efforts, landowners and forest managers alike know that ongoing prevention is the only real solution. Leonard encourages landowners to plant at lower densities and thin aggressively – practices now more important than ever due to the closure of local mills and changing markets. “A landowner who makes a significant investment to plant timber – many of our clients are smaller, non-industrial, private forestland owners. They've planted these trees as an investment for their retirement or a legacy for their families. When they have an outbreak, that is a direct impact financially as well as to their legacy. It’s emotional distress. As an outbreak occurs, it builds momentum. The key is to catch it as early as possible.”

As Raymond Tindel reminds us, these forests are not just a source of income—they are a national resource, a family heritage, and a vital part of our environment. With ongoing support and collaboration, landowners and their partners are working to keep pine forests healthy for generations to come.