Overview and Objectives

Laurel wilt is one of the most damaging invasive exotic tree diseases to affect forests in North America. Current estimates show that hundreds of millions of trees have died, with multiple significant radiating effects on ecosystem structure and function, endangered species and cultural impacts. The disease continues to expand into new areas affecting diverse resources (sassafras in Louisiana and the swamp bay tree islands of the Everglades, for example). A concerted effort between the research community, agencies, and land and natural resource managers is needed to address this rapidly expanding threat. 

In particular, the objectives of this conference are to:

• Increase the understanding of disease dynamics at the landscape level among stakeholders and the research community;
• Enhance awareness about the scale of the economic, ecologic and cultural impacts of the disease among media and agency representatives;
• Outline results of recent and ongoing research on landscape-level solutions for the management of the disease for state, federal and tribal representatives;
• Communicate recent improvements of monitoring methods;
• Review research and technology transfer efforts into the research community;
• Identify gaps of information;
• Promote collaboration for research and management;
• Demonstrate the significance of early detection and disease control;  and
• Instill a sense of urgency to support future research, management, prevention and restoration.