A foliage disease has discolored the needles of pine trees between 7 Mile and 15 Mile Haines Highway, and an aerial survey by federal forest scientists later this month may help determine the extent and severity of the outbreak, and whether it merits more local study.
The disease, dothistroma septosporum or “red band needle blight,” is caused by a naturally occurring fungus that travels between trees on spores. According to the federal Forest Health Condition…