Last summer’s wet weather affecting NH’s white pines

White pine trees in New Hampshire have been dropping needles, but that is to be expected after last year’s rainy late spring and summer, according to the N.H. Forest Health Bureau.

For the past 15 years, pine forests across the northeast have been affected by several fungi that attack pine needles, causing them to discolor and to cast off of the trees prematurely. Collectively, the group is referred to as “needlecast diseases.”

The recurring disease currently affecting white pines has been named “white pine needle damage” by pathologists.

“The fungi that cause white pine needle disease depend on above-normal precipitation during the spring and summer of the previous year, and we certainly had that in 2023, which is why WPND seems epic this year,” said Kyle Lombard, administrator of the N.H. Division of Forests and Lands’ Forest Health Bureau.

WPND is highly unlikely to kill white pines. Instead, it’s a minor setback in the trees’ annual growth cycle, usually affecting only the most recent year’s needles.

“Folks shouldn’t panic if they see white pines with orange or brown needles, or even if there are so many needles dropped that you can rake them up,” Lombard added. “Once the affected needles have cast off, new needles will start growing in their place, fully elongate in July and the trees will be green again in August.”

For more information about white pine needle damage, visit nhbugs.org.

New Hampshire's Division of Forests and Lands is part of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. NHDFL’s mission is to protect and promote the values provided by trees, forests and natural communities. This mission is accomplished through responsible management of the state’s forested resources; by providing forest resource information and education to the public; and through the protection of these resources for the continuing benefit of the state’s citizens, visitors, and forest industry. Learn more at nhdfl.dncr.nh.gov.

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