By Shannon Heckt
WVLA-TV 33
Have a dead tree in your yard from the dry summer last year? It could be infested with beetles, making it more likely to fall. Lawmakers are looking for an emergency declaration to get people funds to remove dangerous trees before that happens.
After the drought of 2023 that cost the state millions of dollars in agricultural losses, more than 12 million trees across the state are dead because of it. Those dry conditions make the perfect home for the ips beetle to dig into the bark, further weakening the tree.