MARQUETTE, MI (AP)-- State officials say an infestation of spruce budworm could cause widespread damage to evergreen trees in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula.
The insect has attacked forests in the eastern U.S. and Canada periodically for more than a century. Forest health specialist Bob Heyd of the Department of Natural Resources in Marquette says the latest assault has been underway for a couple of years and could continue for a decade.
This time of year, spruce budworms feed on shoots produced by trees such as balsam fir, white and black spruce, tamarack, pine and hemlock. The defoliation can kill older trees, while younger ones lose much of their new growth.
Heyd says landowners can protect trees by applying insecticides and watering them when it's dry, helping them recover from stress budworms cause.