Foresters monitor possible return of spruce budworm
Maine forestry officials are keeping a careful watch on northern forests to assess whether a harmful pest that caused millions of dollars of losses to the paper industry 40 years ago is returning.
The spruce budworm last hit Maine in the late 1970s through the 1980s, devastating millions of acres of the state's fir and spruce trees. Now state officials are worried that an outbreak of the pest along the St. Lawrence River in Quebec could signal returning problems for Maine trees, reported The Associated Press.
State entomologist Dave Struble told the news service that it remains unknown whether the pests are moving toward Maine. Traps set up here to catch the pest have turned up some budworms, but Struble told the AP that it's unclear whether the capture of those pests signals a looming infestation or simply better traps since the last budworm invasion.
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