John McGuire, Tall Timbers Private Lands Prescribed Fire Initiative director and forester Kier Klepzig, director of the Jones Center at Ichauway and forest entomologist Contributors There has been a recent increase in pine tree deaths reported in a swath extending from Tallahassee north to Thomasville, then east to Valdosta, and south to Steinhatchee. This unfortunate phenomenon appears to be a result of a “perfect storm” of environmental calamities, primarily starting with a series of hurricanes and exacerbated by a hot, dry September. The slow demise of these trees is likely to have begun in the summer of 2023 with Hurricane Idalia, followed by Hurricane Debby in August 2024, and Hurr…