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CNN Live At Daybreak
Southeast Battling Billion Dollar Bug
Aired September 26, 2002 - 05:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The Southeast is battling a billion dollar bug. First it moves down and then it spreads out.
CNN's Charles Molineaux reports this demon may be heading for a tree near you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ed Taylor's woodsy front yard in north Georgia is losing most of its woods. X marks the spot where his pine trees are being devoured by a monster smaller than a grain of rice, the southern pine beetle. He's among a growing number of homeowners forced to pay thousands of dollars to clear out dead and dying trees.
ED TAYLOR, HOMEOWNER: These trees right in front of us here were green two weeks ago and now they're not. And you can see sitting on the ground there is one that was green maybe a month ago. So...
MOLINEAUX (on camera): It's that fast?
TAYLOR: It's that fast.
WEST NETTLETON (ph): There hasn't been much typical about this latest outbreak we've been experiencing.
MOLINEAUX (voice-over): U.S. Forest Service scientist West Nettleton says he's never seen anything like it, the worst pine beetle outbreak on record, now in its fourth year. The beetles are native to the Southeast, but a long drought has weakened the trees' natural defenses against them. The bugs descend upon a pine by the thousands, turning its bark into Swiss cheese. They breed an army of hungry grubs that dig a maze of tunnels essentially blocking the tree's bloodstream and choking it to death. Like a slow moving forest fire, they've munched their way across the south, devastating an estimated 700,000 acres, including areas way out of their normal territory, into Central Florida and all the way north into the pine barrens of New Jersey.
NETTLETON: There's basically four ways of controlling southern pine beetle spots. They're basically cut, cut, cut and cut.
MOLINEAUX: And the pines are all gone?
TAYLOR: The pines are gone. They were killed by the beetle.
MOLINEAUX (voice-over): Which leaves ragged gaps in national forests, parks, campgrounds and timber plantations. Since this infestation started, the bugs have done over a billion dollars in damage.
(on camera): So when does it end? Scientists figure a few days of 100 degree plus temperatures or a severe winter cold snap would knock the beetles down, and, of course, an end to the drought would better fortify the trees. Otherwise, it's up to the bugs' natural enemies, like other beetles, wasps or woodpeckers, meaning this infestation will just have to run its course.
Charles Molineaux, CNN, Forsythe County, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 26, 2002 - 05:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The Southeast is battling a billion dollar bug. First it moves down and then it spreads out.
CNN's Charles Molineaux reports this demon may be heading for a tree near you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ed Taylor's woodsy front yard in north Georgia is losing most of its woods. X marks the spot where his pine trees are being devoured by a monster smaller than a grain of rice, the southern pine beetle. He's among a growing number of homeowners forced to pay thousands of dollars to clear out dead and dying trees.
ED TAYLOR, HOMEOWNER: These trees right in front of us here were green two weeks ago and now they're not. And you can see sitting on the ground there is one that was green maybe a month ago. So...
MOLINEAUX (on camera): It's that fast?
TAYLOR: It's that fast.
WEST NETTLETON (ph): There hasn't been much typical about this latest outbreak we've been experiencing.
MOLINEAUX (voice-over): U.S. Forest Service scientist West Nettleton says he's never seen anything like it, the worst pine beetle outbreak on record, now in its fourth year. The beetles are native to the Southeast, but a long drought has weakened the trees' natural defenses against them. The bugs descend upon a pine by the thousands, turning its bark into Swiss cheese. They breed an army of hungry grubs that dig a maze of tunnels essentially blocking the tree's bloodstream and choking it to death. Like a slow moving forest fire, they've munched their way across the south, devastating an estimated 700,000 acres, including areas way out of their normal territory, into Central Florida and all the way north into the pine barrens of New Jersey.
NETTLETON: There's basically four ways of controlling southern pine beetle spots. They're basically cut, cut, cut and cut.
MOLINEAUX: And the pines are all gone?
TAYLOR: The pines are gone. They were killed by the beetle.
MOLINEAUX (voice-over): Which leaves ragged gaps in national forests, parks, campgrounds and timber plantations. Since this infestation started, the bugs have done over a billion dollars in damage.
(on camera): So when does it end? Scientists figure a few days of 100 degree plus temperatures or a severe winter cold snap would knock the beetles down, and, of course, an end to the drought would better fortify the trees. Otherwise, it's up to the bugs' natural enemies, like other beetles, wasps or woodpeckers, meaning this infestation will just have to run its course.
Charles Molineaux, CNN, Forsythe County, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
