Sorosis Park Taken-Over By Beetle

View of Sorosis Park, with some of the Pine Trees cut down on the eastern side of the park.

By Haley Mast

Pine trees make up 80% of the tree species in Sorosis Park. But sadly they soon will all be cut down. The Ips Beetle is to blame for this destruction, quickly taking over the pine trees in the park and killing all of them in a short 3-year span. While some of the pine trees in the park are still standing and still have greenery on their crowns, they all show signs of infection which leads to a quick death. 

Ips beetle

The blue staining fungus left behind, showing the infection in the tree.

What is the Pine Killer Beetle? 

Ips Beetles are small brown bark beetles that are native to California and southern Oregon. Ips Beetles mainly pick pines as their host tree yet Spruce trees are also infected at times. Sometime in the spring, the beetles tunnel their way into the bark, where they consume the moist insides of the trees and lay their eggs there. After laying their eggs the adults move on to colonize other trees, starting the process over again. When the eggs hatch, the larvae emerge to eat the living tissue beneath the bark. The beetles carry a blue-staining fungus which causes the tree to be drained of its nutrients. Freshly cut Ips infested trees clearly show the infection through a blue stain on the inside of the tree.  

What's being done at Sorosis Park? 

Jeff Loefflen stands in front of soon-to-be cut pine trees.

Jeff Loefflen is a Park Maintenance Technician for the city of The Dalles Parks and Recreation. In the past two weeks they have taken down over 75 pine trees on the east side of the park and they still have 50 or more to go. After this, they will be moving to the west side of the park for eradication. The last point of the tree removal within Sorosis park will be in the center island, near the park entrance. Are there any pines that haven’t been affected in the park? “No, 3 years ago - when I started - there were about 17 pines here that were infected, now they all are,” Loefflen said. There is not a good alternative method to ridding the Ips beetle of Sorosis park. 

“Insecticides are too costly, and application is too excessive,” Loefflen said.  

What are the effects of this on local ecology?

With this many trees dying from the beetle and resulting in removal “The air quality will drastically change up here” Loefflen said. The animals that have made homes in the trees of Sorosis park will likely migrate. The main animals that depend on the trees as part of their niche are squirrels and owls. “I am a bit curious as to where they'll go,” said Loefflen. 

One arborist works to cut down a infected pine.

What's Happening with the lumber? 

Cleaning up the logs will likely take some time. “They are going to try to mill some of the logs,” said Loefflen. The logs that are unable to be milled will be put through a wood chipper to prevent Ips from invading another area. 

Steve and Sissy Turner, out playing a game of disc golf.

The community’s thoughts

Sorosis Park is popular among disc golfers. In fact “there is a disc golf tournament next weekend” Loefflen said. It is still going to happen, just maybe with a change of course. Steve and Sissy Turner are in their 70’s and in the past year have made it to the park to play almost every day- with some recent smoke limitations. Steve Turner was born and raised in The Dalles and he has spent a lot of his time at Sorosis Park. “It's sad to see the trees go, but we know it's necessary,” Mr. Turner said. “ “I'm curious as to what trees they will be replacing them with,” Sissy Turner said. Samoa Fanene is a local resident of The Dalles and an avid disc golfer. “We enjoy the shade the trees provide for disc golf, and I don't enjoy seeing them coming down, but we know they have to for our safety and the other trees' health.”  

Future Plans for the Park 

Scott Baker is the Executive Director of The Dalles Parks and Recreation. “ We will not plant any new trees until we have proper irrigation set up,” he said. Baker will work with professionals on determining the correct species to plant for the area while creating a diverse species planting plan. “We are following a three-step plan,” Baker said. First, the dead and dying trees all need to be removed and cleaned up. Second, the irrigation needs to be assessed and repaired. And third, the process of planting new species will then begin.