Losses by oak decline, Ips engraver beetles, and black turpentine were triggered and compounded by severe drought conditions, especially in the mountains. Fall cankerworm defoliated thousands of acres in the mountains and the Charlotte area, while forest tent caterpillar defoliated 11,800 acres in eastern North Carolina along the Roanoke River. An isolated gypsy moth infestation continued around the town of Highlands in the west. Beech bark disease now occurs in two western counties and butternut canker is found in eleven. Fusiform rust infects some 956,200 acres, and littleleaf disease continues as a major problem in the Piedmont.
Pitch canker shows dramatic increases where sewerage or animal waste has been applied as fertilizer.
Fifteen new oak wilt disease centers were confirmed in the mountains. Dogwood anthracnose infects twenty-nine North Carolina counties.