Greetings all,
Thank you for your concern about the dying trees you’ve been seeing. The Forest Health team has just issued a web bulletin that addresses this and other forest health problems around the state: What We're Seeing Now
The issue of dying white and red pine associated with increased bark beetle activity is directly linked to the severe drought that we have experienced in the recent past. Unfortunately, there is little that can be done on trees with significant symptom development. We recommend that you keep what you have healthy at this point by regularly watering your trees. If practical, remove bark beetle-infested trees to reduce future beetle populations/infestations.
For watering and other tree care information, check out
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/treecare/caring-pruning.html . If you would like to receive notification of our Forest Insect and Disease Newsletter and forest health updates, click on the red envelope at the bottom of our forest health website:
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/treecare/forest_health/index.html
Again, thank you for contacting us with your concerns.
Val Cervenka l Forest Health Program Coordinator
Division of Forestry l Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
500 Lafayette Road l Saint Paul, MN 55155
Phone: 651-259-5296
Fax: 651-296-5954
They did not address the Junipers, but apparently this is the culprit.