In June, state workers marking boundary lines in Ferris Lake Wild Forest noticed something awry with the beech trees. The leaves were curled and falling to the ground.
Beech leaf disease had reached Herkimer County in the Adirondacks. This ailment has the potential to kill off large swaths of American beech trees, whose nuts are a key food source for wildlife.
First discovered in Ohio in 2012, beech leaf disease has been spreading in New York since at least 2017. As of September, it’s been found in 36 counties statewide, blanketing western New York and moving rapidly through the lower Hudson Valley and Long Island. It’s only been found in one Adirondack location, but it’s been known to spread quickly.
“I’m told that practically every beech tree in Westchester County has beech leaf disease,” said Maria MoskaLee, a forest health specialist with the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
In a study of the disease at Kennedy State Forest in Cortland County, DEC forest health scientists found it expanded from about one acre with 190 trees in 2020 to about 4.5 acres with 940 trees the next year. In 2022, it has ballooned to 15 acres and infiltrated isolated forested areas about a mile away.
Although there
