LANSING, MI (AP)-- Officials say controlling a tree disease called oak wilt was among top priorities for managers of Michigan's forests last year.
The Department of Natural Resources describes its battle against the threat to red oaks in a new report on the health of the state's 20 million forest acres.
Workers installed tens of thousands of feet of root graft barriers on state land. The barriers prevent oak wilt from moving to healthy trees through infected root systems.
The report also discusses other illnesses and insects that have threatened forests over the past year and what the department is doing about them.
DNR forest health specialist Bob Heyd says public awareness is the key to stopping invasive organisms from devastating Michigan woodlands.