Tree removal begins and testing recommended for dying trees

Testing has been recommended after several of the nearly 100-year-old spruce trees bordering the Pine Bluffs Cemetery have started dying; removal of the dead trees began Thursday, Aug. 13.

A needle miner was also found in the long needle pines that are in the cemetery, said Mayor Alan Curtis at the Monday night Town Council. These small larvae cause the yellowing seen on the needles; however, this is not what's killing the large spruce trees bordering the cemetery, confirmed Clark Young, Laramie County Conservation District Tree Specialist.

"The spruce trees are likely suffering from something...