Drought Causing Juniper Deaths In Central, Northern Arizona

By Jill Ryan
Associated Press
Published: Friday, April 23, 2021 - 11:05am
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Forest Service officials report significant die-off of juniper trees due to drought conditions affecting the evergreens across large areas of central and northern Arizona.

Between 50,000 acres and 100,000 acres of junipers have been affected in areas of the Prescott and Kaibab national forests between Paulden and Ash Fork and north of Williams, officials said Tuesday.

Drought apparently is the cause, officials with the agency's Forest Health Protection office in Flagstaff.

“While there have been some scattered observations of insects on dead trees, Forest Health Protection believes that the initial cause of death is directly tied to water stress. Trees impacted by drought show a change in color of their needlelike scales, which typically starts at the branch tips and spreads down the tree, fading from green to a bright yellow," officials said. 

Mortality rates vary, with most areas seeing die-offs of 5%-30% with some pockets of dead junipers ranging from up to 15 acres, officials said.

Small patches of junipers and individual trees are dying in higher elevations surround Prescott, they said.

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