Arbor Day Foundation Helping To Address Tree Loss in American Southeast
The nonprofit aims to combat threats to the landscape, including pest outbreaks
LINCOLN, Neb., March 26, 2025 /3BL/ - The Arbor Day Foundation is replanting lost forestland in the American Southeast to help address a range of threats to the landscape. As part of this work, the nonprofit is planting hundreds of thousands of trees specifically to combat an increasing rate of pest outbreaks. The southern pine beetle is one of the most destructive forest pests in the Southeast United States, affecting 29,000 acres of forests in 2024 alone.
Through this initiative, the Foundation and its partners will target states most impacted by the southern pine beetle, including Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and Mississippi. The Arbor Day Foundation will also provide local communities and schools with educational resources to help people learn more about the impact of the southern pine beetle and engage them in recovery.
“When we lose trees to pests like the southern pine beetle, we lose more than a canopied landscape. We also lose the economic value and environmental benefits that forests provide,” said Lauren Marshall, director of landscape restoration at the Arbor Day Foundation. “By replanting a more biodiverse forest, we can help make this region more resilient against future outbreaks and ensure these trees remain a positive resource for many years to come.”
The southern pine beetle destroys trees by digging tunnels through its bark, limiting a tree’s ability to move nutrients through its trunk. By killing trees, southern pine beetles also destroy crucial habitat for wildlife like insects and migrating birds. The southern pine beetle has caused widespread destruction for decades in the Southeast, damaging $254 million worth of trees since 1972 in Georgia alone. The beetles are typically drawn to injured or vulnerable trees but can quickly spread to surrounding healthy trees, attracting even more beetles.
The Arbor Day Foundation’s effort builds on large-scale reforestation and community tree planting work already underway in the Southeast. In the last five years, the Foundation has helped plant 50 million trees in regional forests and hosted multiple free tree distributions in communities impacted by the southern pine beetle. Most recently, the Foundation helped distribute 1,000 trees to people living in and around Newnan, Georgia.
Click here to learn more about the importance of planting trees in the American Southeast.
About the Arbor Day Foundation
The Arbor Day Foundation is a global nonprofit inspiring people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees. They foster a growing community of more than 1 million leaders, innovators, planters, and supporters united by their bold belief that a more hopeful future can be shaped through the power of trees. For more than 50 years, they’ve answered critical need with action, planting more than half a billion trees alongside their partners.
And this is only the beginning.
The Arbor Day Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit pursuing a future where all life flourishes through the power of trees. Learn more at arborday.org.
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