Alabama Forestry Commission dealing with pine beetle outbreak

Published

2 years ago

August 29, 2024

Alabama Forestry Commission dealing with pine beetle outbreak

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – Alabama’s trees are in danger, with the state under one of the worst pine beetle infestations in more than 20 years.

The Alabama Forestry Commission is trying to notify landowners to stop the spread.

”We’re hoping that things don’t get any worse than they currently are,“ said forest health coordinator Drew Metzler.

Around 6,500 cases of pine beetle infestations in Alabama have been found, and the forestry commission still has 20% of the state’s land still to look over.

”We actually get up there in a plane, normally we have a pilot and two spotters, and we actually mark spots,” said Metzler

Metzler says outbreaks haven’t been this bad since 2001.

Of the many factors, last fall’s drought could be the reason the beetles have returned in a big way.

”We had a lot of stands that experienced a lot of drought stress. That competition for water just puts them a lot more at risk,” said Metzler.

It could be a loss of revenue for homeowners if trees continue to die, but there are ways to stop the spread.

A tree has been attacked if it turns yellow or brown or has resin on the bark.

“Almost kind of look like little balls of popcorn that come out of the bark crevasses. That’s actually the point where bark beetles have tried to enter the tree,“ said Metzler.

”If you can catch pine beetle spots when they’re fairly small, they can be controlled just by cutting out the infested trees and cutting a buffer of trees around the spot,” he said.

Major outbreaks have been in north Alabama.

For assistance, contact the Alabama Forestry Commission.

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Deputies: Alabama teen arrested for threatening to kill student in Walton County

Published

11 hours ago

April 12, 2026

Press Room

Deputies: Alabama teen arrested for threatening to kill student in Walton County

WALTON COUNTY, Fla. — A 16-year-old from Florala, Alabama, was arrested after making threats to kill another student on social media.

On Friday morning, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office said the student posted a picture of a gun online.

It was captioned with a targeted threat involving a student at Paxton School. The 16-year-old who attends the school made the threat.

They were taken into custody before school started.

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By The Numbers, Alabama A-Day 2026

Published

23 hours ago

April 12, 2026

Press Room

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama football scrimmaged inside Bryant-Denny Stadium for its annual A-Day spring football finale on Saturday. The Crimson Tide spent two hours with the offense and defense fighting for dominance in the April sun.

The afternoon wasn’t exactly a game, but looked more like real football than the 2025 A-Day and therefore gave fans and pundits quality content to evaluate.

“I thought the guys competed again,” Kalen DeBoer said. “It’s a unique situation with our practices, two of them still being next week, so we’re not done yet. Get back to work Tuesday and Thursday, still got a lot of opportunities to get better, a lot of situational that we can get to. But it was a good back and forth, much like many of the other scrimmages; you can see how we orchestrate it with the ball where we spot it. There’s some advantages the offense gets towards the end. We’ve got to get that red zone work in, but there’s a lot of things to learn, a lot of situational stuff that we can get better at.”

Disclaimer: These statistics were taken by hand and therefore not official

Passing

Keelon Russell: 21-33, 242 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT
Austin Mack: 6-12, 101 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Jett Thomalla: 4-5, 44 yards
Tayden-Evan Kaawaa: 4-5, 37 yards

Rushing

Kevin Riley: 10 carries, 12 yards
Daniel Hill: 10 carries, 31 yards
AK Dear: 4 carries, 2 yards
Trae’Shawn Brown: 6 carries, 19 yards
Khalifa Keith: 1 carry

Receiving

Derek Meadows: 9 Targets, 5 receptions, 69 yards, 1 TD
Cederian Morgan: 3 targets, 3 receptions, 76 yards, 1 TD
Ryan Williams: 3 targets, 3 receptions 60 yards
Trae’Shawn Brown: 6 targets, 5 receptions, 50 yards
Lotzeir Brooks: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 15 yards, 2 TDs
Marshall Pritchett: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 8 yards, 1 TD
Tyler Henderson: 3 targets, 3 receptions, 38 yards
Rico Scott: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 30 yards
Jay Lindsey: 2 targets, 1 reception, 5 yards
AK Dear: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 16 yards
Kevin Riley: 1 target, 1 reception, 5 yards
Kaleb Edwards: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 27 yards
Maurice Mathis Jr.: 1 target, 1 reception, 5 yards
Mack Sutter: 1 target, 1 reception, 10 yards
Daniel Hill: 1 target, 1 reception, 10 yards
Noah Rogers: 2 targets
Josh Ford: 1 target

Defense

Ivan Taylor: 6 tackles
Luke Metz: 4 tackles, sack, 2 TFL
Red Morgan: 4 tackles, 1 PBU
Caleb Woodson: 4 tackles
Justin Hill: 4 tackles, 2 TFL
Carmelo O’Neal: 4 tackles
Cayden Jones: 3 tackles
Jorden Edmunds: 3 tackles, 2 PBU
Keon Sabb: 3 tackles
Dijon Lee: 3 tackles, 1 INT
Zavier Mincey: 3 tackles
Duke Johnson: 3 tackles, 1 TFL
Jireh Edwards: 2 tackles, 1 PBU
Kendrick Bingley-Jones: 2 tackles, 2 TFL
Mahri Johnson: 2 tackles, sack
Abduall Sanders: 2 tackles
Terrence Green: 2 tackles, 1 PBU
Brody McCutcheon: 2 tackles, sack
Jake Ivie: 2 tackles
Yhonzae Pierre: 1 tackle
Devan Thompkins: 1 tackle
Xavier Griffin: 1 tackle
Dre Kirkpatrick Jr.: 1 tackle, 1 INT
Walter Sansing: 1 tackle
Zay Hall: 1 tackle
Jamarion Matthews: 1 tackle
Grant Johnson: 1 tackle
Griffin Hanson: 1 tackle

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Alabama

Alabama’s Willy Wilcox returns to Masters in new role after overcoming addiction

Published

1 day ago

April 11, 2026

Press Room

Alabama’s Willy Wilcox returns to Masters in new role after overcoming addiction

(Willy Wilcox/Instagram)

The story of Willy Wilcox begins with his mom. Kim Wilcox won over 50 tournaments as a junior golfer, was a four-year letter winner at Auburn, and finished runner-up in the 1988 Alabama State Women’s Amateur Championship. She had aspirations of joining the LPGA Tour, but life intervened. In the late 1980s, she had Willy, and by 1991, she became the club manager and golf pro at the now-defunct Pine Harbor Golf and Racquet Club in Pell City, Alabama.

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