Bureau/Division/Agency

Forest Services

Document Type

Text

Exact Creation Date

5-2026

Description

2024 witnessed a dramatic increase in visible spruce budworm damage in Maine, with 3,455 acres of defoliation damage documented during aerial survey flights along the Maine-Quebec border. The results of the 2024 larval monitoring program also modeled over 300,000 acres of spruce-fir forest in northern Maine believed to be at the population threshold where SBW can escape natural population controls and build to epidemic levels. In 2025, this led to Maine’s first large-scale SBW aerial spray program since the last major SBW outbreak subsided in the early 1990s. In total, 241,416 acres of forest were treated in 2025. As we continue to evaluate population monitoring data in late 2025 and early 2026, the results look promising. While preventing extensive damage in Maine will require additional aerial treatments in 2026, the overall program will be much smaller due to these early successes in 2025. This is one of the core goals of the SBW Early Intervention Strategy (EIS) being implemented in northern Maine.

Language

English

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