ATLANTA — Montmorency County saw acres of jack pine trees defoliated last year as an outbreak of jack pine budworms continued to feed off the trees’ needles.

This was reported by a forest health team with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources after seeing more than 63,000 acres of jack and red pine trees defoliated last year in Michigan. In comparison, last year’s outbreak damaged only 28,000 acres of pine trees.

The forest health report is a way to look at trends in Michigan forests, such as invasive plants, diseases, and pests.

“The DNR’s forest health team works closely with local cooperative invasive species management area groups … researchers, and many others to address issues that are new or ongoing,” James Wieferich, DNR forest health unit manager, said in a statement. “Besides on-the-ground work, the Forest Health Program brings money into Michigan to help partners address forest health challenges and concerns across the state and in many cases, preventing rapid spread of new issues into the region.”

Jack pine budworms do not kill jack pine and red pine trees, but the native insect will damage the trees and have a booming population for about two to four years, creating an outbreak of caterpillars feeding off the trees’ needles.

After the two-to-four-year outbreak, the budworm population collapses to a nearly unnoticeable level until things pick back up six to 12 years later.

The last outbreak happened from 2012 to 2015, peaking at 118,000 acres of defoliated pine trees in 2015.

Health report officials predicted the current outbreak will continue for another year or two.

According to the health reports, officials are currently keeping an eye out for what could become a highly dangerous invasive species to Michigan: mountain pine beetles.

“Mountain pine beetles are the newest invasive added to Michigan’s watchlist, but it has not been detected here so far,” the health report said. “The aggressive, persistent beetle is one of the most destructive bark beetles in the western U.S. and Canada, killing millions of pines during severe outbreaks. It is possible the pest could be introduced via infested pine materials.”

The beetle is on the state watchlist, as it’s caused the death of 125 million acres of forestry in North America.