Knowledgebase

disposing of old spruce bark beetle kill #907911

Asked June 30, 2025, 5:37 PM EDT

I bought properties that has a lot of dead spruce trees from beetle kill. They have been dead for a long long time and there is no beetle activity in the area. The people who are taking the trees down, proposed two ways of dealing with the branches. First, just putting them through a chipper and sending them back onto the fourth floor. My land is contiguous with a large wetland and the other option was to chop the branches and leave it on the edge of the wetland at the edge of my property. I need to know which is better. But I need to know really soon because they’re coming this week to do this job. Thank you.

Matanuska-Susitna County Alaska

Expert Response

Hi, if these have been dead for a long time (> 3 years) the cut branches won't cause any attraction for new spruce beetles to enter the area. Spruce beetles need the trees to be recently dead to complete their life cycle so the scent of cut fresh branches potentially could attract spruce beetles searching for a wounded host tree but older dead branches are no longer attractive to them. You can either chip them or stack them to decompose, whichever you prefer. 

You can find more information about processing beetle-killed wood here as well in case this is helpful to you: https://www.alaskasprucebeetle.org/processing-wood-from-beetle-killed-trees/
An Ask Extension Expert Replied June 30, 2025, 6:37 PM EDT

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