A sea of red trees in the North Fork Flathead River drainage is an alarming view if you’re thinking “beetle kill,” but it’s not.

The recent, widespread reddening is only the temporary work of a needle cast fungus called Lophodermella, according to Heidi Trechsel, silviculturist with the Hungry Horse-Glacier View Ranger District.

“It’s really common in lodgepole, which was what it’s hitting up there,” Trechsel said. “Because it’s a fungus, it likes high humidity and wet springs like we’ve been having the last couple years. It’s most frequently seen on the young trees, the seedlings and saplings.”

Trechsel said she was made aware of the situation only a couple weeks ago by a woman who lives in the Trail Creek area just south of the Canadian border. Trechsel checked it out a couple days later and found that the fungus is widespread, “basically all the way up and down the North Fork.”

But it isn’t affecting trees in a uniform way.

“It really varies. You can have trees that are completely free of it right next to trees that are infected,” she said.

The trees that have turned red actually were infected last year and the fungus spores are just now blooming. For most trees, those needles will be followed by new needles, causing a green-up in the valley within a couple months.

“Significant mortality doesn’t happen,” Trechsel said. “It can weaken the tree, reduce its growth and expose it to other things” that do cause mortality.

The Trail Creek resident Trechsel visited with was concerned about what to do, and Trechsel advised patience.

“Don’t be cutting them down yet,” she said. “Leave them alone and give them a chance.”

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by email at jmann@dailyinterlake.com.