Oak Disease First Seen In Upstate NY Is Now On Long Island

ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A devastating oak tree disease that made its first New York appearance in Schenectady County has now been confirmed on Long Island.

The Department of Environmental Conservation says the fungal disease known as oak wilt has been found in the Suffolk County town of Islip.

"This fungus is fatal so when it gets into red oak trees it kills them within a year, generally within just a couple of months," forester Rob Cole told 1010 WINS. "It's going to mean more dead trees, people are going to lose trees in their yards, will lose the beautiful oak trees along the streets that provide a lot of shade and increase property values."

The disease was found in a neighborhood in the Schenectady County town of Glenville in 2008 and 2013. The DEC and U.S. Forest Service removed about 100 trees to prevent the disease from spreading.

"Unfortunately it is a big deal. Oak wilt is a very serious tree disease," John Wernet, of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, told CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reported.

In Islip, all red oaks within 150 feet of infected ones will be destroyed.

"We'll be in the neighborhood in the coming weeks doing a very detailed ground survey, knocking on doors, looking in people's yards at the trees that they've got just to be sure that we found all the trees," Cole said. "Once we're sure we've found it, we put that 150 foot line around them and then there will be some tree removals coming up maybe in the next few months."

"We have grown accustomed to our trees. We have been here over 30 years, our trees mean a lot to us," one local resident said.

Oak wilt kills thousands of oaks each year in forests, woodlots and home landscapes. DEC encourages people to report any occurrence where an oak tree suddenly loses its leaves in August.

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