Dead trees will mar Texas landscape for years

CBS News via AP: Pockets of brown, sickly trees mar the traditionally majestic pine woods in East Texas. Leafless oaks can be seen across the state. Even native drought-resistant cedars are dying off in some areas after proliferating during the last century.

These are the effects of a historic dry spell that is forecast to grip Texas well into 2012 and could alter the state's landscape for years. Already, the lack of rain and extreme heat have taken a brutal toll on forests and city parks.

State foresters are watching insects ravage acres of drought-weakened trees while city officials are facing millions of dollars in costs to haul away fallen limbs and debris from parks. "This is just so unprecedented," said Jim Houser, Texas Forest Service's forest health coordinator for Central and West Texas. "We're seeing so many trees die that it's going to affect the forest in a major way."

Although much of Texas is prairie and desert land, forests are abundant in the central and eastern regions. The undulating, wooded Hill Country spreads out from Austin and the dense Piney Woods covers the area along the Louisiana border. Texas forests are home to a variety of recreation and to a multi-billion-dollar timber industry.

But through September, the state has averaged only 8.5 inches of rain, nearly 13 inches less than normal. The past year is now the driest on record in the state. Forestry experts won't know the long-term impact until next spring when it becomes clear how many trees are dead and how many became dormant....

Bradford pear trees near Whiterock Lake in Dallas, shot by Sam Wilson, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license