In article , Neil wrote:
Last spring in upstate New York I noticed that most of the pine trees seemed
to
be covered with brown needles, as if the trees were dying.

Now all the pine trees on mine and the surrounding properties are suffering
the
same affliction (Fairfield Connecticut).

Anybody know what's going on here?

Neil


Is the forest all of a single age? I have some land that was
pasture about 70 years ago, but then allowed to grow up in forest.
When I bought the land, I noticed that a *lot* of the pine
trees were sickly and fallen/falling. I called the local
ag extension guy out and he told me that this was natural
succession. Southern pine have a life span of 60-ish years,
and my forest was transitioning from pine to hardwood, which
were slowly taking over. Sure enough, he took me to a portion
of the place that had been in forest for greater than 90
years, and it was mostly hardwood with very few pines.

billo