It has been noticed that the pine trees in multiple neighborhoods seem to be thinning extremely bad. It seems as if something is wrong because the entire neighborhoods of pines are dying. Have you heard of a disease or other that may be creating this problem.

Greetings Mark:

I often receive emails and phone calls with regard to pine and spruce decline--these inquiries come from southern, central, and northern Illinois.

Even though Illinois is home to eight native conifer species, many conifers are planted on sites/soils that do not encourage long-term tree health and vigor. Many conifers adapted to Illinois's climate require well-drained soils and unfortunately, many of these trees are planted on fine-textured, poorly drained to somewhat poorly drained soils. Inevitably, complications result and we refer to these complications as "decline" -- environmental conditions that cause tree health and vigor problems.

If you suspect wide-scale conifer decline, please contact your local Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources district forester office:

http://dnr.state.il.us/conservation/forestry/