Wagner, Dill featured in WVII report on coming spruce budworm outbreak

UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Friday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

May 26, 2016 Cooperative Extension, Outreach, Research, UMaine in the News

Robert Wagner, the Henry W. Saunders Distinguished Professor in Forestry at the University of Maine and director of the Cooperative Forestry Research Unit; and Jim Dill, a pest management specialist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension; spoke with WVII (Channel 7) for Part I of the report, “The return of the spruce budworm.” During the last infestation from 1970 until 1985, the Maine Forest Service estimates the insect killed between 20 million and 25 million cords of fir and spruce worth hundreds of millions of dollars. “The spruce budworm has a large influence on the forest. In every 30 to 60 years it will kill most of the balsam fir stands, which is catastrophic change in the way the forest behaves,” said Wagner, a member of the Maine Spruce Budworm Task Force. “What happened following the outbreak was that there were millions of acres of dead and dying trees.” Although the insect is not yet killing trees in Maine, defoliation is occurring in Canada, according to the report. “Right at the moment, it is expanding and moving toward the state of Maine, so I would expect right at the moment, if things stay the same, we could expect to see the spruce budworm in Maine,” Dill said.