Current Outbreak Status
Southern Pine Beetle Status
Images courtesy of Erich G. Vallery, USDA Forest Service – SRS-4552, Bugwood.org
Key Takeaways For 2023 Include:
- In 2023, there are over 3,000 southern pine beetle spots and the number of detected spots seems to grow daily.
- Southern pine beetle activity is significant in the following 6 states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina.
- More than half of the spots are on National Forest land, but there are more than 1,000 spots on State & Private land as well.
- This is the most wide-spread activity in the Southern Region in the past 2 decades.
- Final spot numbers won’t be available until the end of the year.
- See Historical Spot Data – Southern Pine Beetle Information Center (clemson.edu) for all complete 2022 data set.
Current SPB Spot Map
Spring Trapping and SPB Prediction. Every year we conduct a spring survey for Southern Pine Beetle, and we have been working with Dartmouth College to make the predictions for the survey more accurate. Below you will find a summary of the expected SPB activity for 2023 derived from that survey and the prediction model. Also there are 2 maps attached – one just for National Forests and the other for State and Private land at the county level. More detailed information about this survey and the prediction model can be found at SPB Predict.
This prediction system is a huge team effort made possible by surveyors and sample processors with National Forests, State Forestry Agencies, and Forest Health Protection. Also, a special thanks to Michael Torbett with Georgia Forestry Commission that manages the Survey 1,2,3 Collection and Reporting App and Drs. Carissa Aoki and Matt Ayres with Dartmouth College that developed and run the prediction model.
