Vermont authorities are asking the public for help in containing a new beech disease that is spreading across the state.

Beech leaf disease was first identified in Vernon and Dummerston last October, said Josh Halman, forest health program manager for the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. Since then, it has spread to dozens of towns, including the Upper Valley communities of Windsor, Hartland, Hartford, Pomfret, Woodstock, Sharon, Strafford, Thetford and Corinth.

“It spreads pretty quickly,” Halman said. The disease shows up as dark streaks on the leaves of the trees. “It could reach any part of the state. There are beech trees in every county.”

Anyone who finds evidence of beech leaf disease is asked to take photos and submit them via vtinvasives.org/get-involved/report-it.

Beech leaf disease was first identified in Ohio in 2012. Since then, it has spread to Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia and West Virginia, according to a September 2023 report from the U.S. Forest Service.

By comparison, the Asian ash beetle – an invasive species that attacks and eventually kills ash trees – was first discovered in Michigan in 2002 and did not appear in Vermont until 2018.

Beech disease is caused by nematodes that nest in the leaves and buds of the trees. This causes the leaves to die and the buds to stop flowering, which in turn leads to fewer leaves.

So far, young beech trees seem to be particularly vulnerable; if infected, they usually die within two to five years.

“This can significantly affect the functionality of a tree for the entire year,” said Halman. This is all the more worrying because beech trees are already struggling with beech bark disease.

There is no consensus or clear answer as to how beech leaf disease spreads. According to Halman, there are theories that it is spread by water or wind.

“It makes it harder to treat; it makes it harder to predict where it will appear next,” he said. “That’s a very important question to answer, and many researchers are working on it right now.”

Scientists are also not yet sure how to treat beech leaf disease, but are working on developing possible solutions.

“It’s definitely a difficult landscape to deal with right now,” Halman said.

Beech trees, native to Vermont, are one of the state’s most common tree species. They are found primarily in forests and turn dark yellow in the fall.

“It will impact everything from what you see when you walk through the woods with your dog to what visitors see when they come for the leaves,” Halman said.

They are also mast trees, meaning they produce food, including beechnuts, which are eaten by squirrels, opossums, deer, bears and birds.

“The loss or decline of such a species could mean a significant reduction in the food source for species that depend on it,” Halman said.

Jeff Arnold, an arborist in Hartford, said he is aware of the beech leaf disease but has not heard any complaints about it from residents.

“Actually, you find them mostly in the forest or in public parks,” he said. “They are not planted along the roads.”

In recent years, the Hartford Tree Board and city government have struggled with the Asian ash beetle, which is generally more visible to the public. Hartford has used chemicals to treat some of the city’s ash trees that are in more prominent locations, such as the high school and the park near the courthouse in downtown White River Junction.

Since ash trees are more common along roads than beech trees, there are fears that their death could cause greater problems for the population.

“This is a much bigger problem,” Arnold said.

Liz Sauchelli can be reached at [email protected] or 603-727-3221.