Fair use, etc http://www.express-news.net/auth/ennews/ap/texas/d0709.html Ice storm damage to timber industry could reach $276 million "By SUSAN PARROTT= Associated Press Writer=

NEW BOSTON, Texas (AP) - The ice storm that blasted Northeast Texas on Christmas Eve could cost the timber industry up to $276 million, state forest service officials said Wednesday. Millions of pine trees in Bowie, Red River and Cass counties, already suffering from drought, were destroyed by the winter storm. And those that survive, will be more susceptible to insects and disease because they are weakened. While actual damage is estimated at $46 million, the long-term impact could reach $276 million in losses to growers, harvesters and processors, said Ed Barron, associate director for the Texas Forest Service. ``This is the most severe damage I've ever seen,'' Barron said. ``It will form a void in the supply chain over time.'' Red River County was the hardest hit, with 142,000 acres moderately to severely damaged. Bowie County sustained 116,000 acres of damaged trees, while Cass County saw losses to 36,000 acres. The average privately-owned stand is about 70 acres. Landowner Tom Wheeler said his 6-year-old stand near New Boston was destroyed. ``Little twigs the size of a pencil became covered in ice as big as your wrist,'' said the Bowie County retiree. The (tree) tops just broke out.'' Wheeler said he hopes to receive financial assistance to clear and replant the 75-acre stand, although the soil is too wet to do so this winter. The Texas Forest Service is seeking $11 million in federal aid to help thousands of private landowners recover, Barron said. The service also will seek $6 million in funding from state legislators to build a new nursery to reforest the region, already hit hard by several years of drought. Don Edson, a forester in New Boston, said that without aid, most individual landowners will not replant. ``Their investment is completely wiped out, he said. Young pine trees were bent, bowed over, broken, or uprooted by the ice storm. Many larger pine trees, generally more than 20 years old, lost limbs or had the tops broken out. While young trees that are bent or bowed may recover, older trees - particularly in thinned stands - will die. Many will rot on the ground before they can be salvaged, which can create a fire hazard. In general, unthinned pine stands suffered less damage because the closeness of surrounding trees helped prevent extensive breakage, Edson said. Surviving trees will be more susceptible to insects and disease, he warned. Three species of pine engraver beetles and the black turpentine beetle attack weakened and stressed pines. ``We really don't know what's going to happen,'' Edson said. ``We've never seen a storm of this magnitude in East Texas. It's probably the storm of the century.''

-- tex (tex@tex.com), January 17, 2001