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Report: Fewer trees died off in California in 2018

February 11, 2019 GMT

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FILE - This June 6, 2016 photo shows brown patches of dead and dying trees near Cressman, Calif., in the Sierra Nevada. Federal forestry officials say the die-off of trees in California forests slowed in 2018 thanks in part to the state receiving more rain. The U.S. Forest Service said Monday, Feb. 11, 2019, that dead trees continue to pose a hazard to people and infrastructure, especially in the central and southern Sierra Nevada regions where they can serve as fuel for wildfires. (AP Photo/Scott Smith, File)

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Federal forestry officials say the die-off of trees in California forests slowed in 2018 thanks in part to the state receiving more rain.

But the U.S. Forest Service warned Monday that dead trees continue to pose a hazard to people and infrastructure, especially in the central and southern Sierra Nevada regions where they can serve as fuel for wildfires.

A survey found 18 million trees died in 2018, compared to 27 million the previous year. More than 147 million trees have died in California since 2010, the start of a five-year drought.

Officials declared an end to the drought in 2017 after a wet winter that drenched the state in rain and snow. But California has seen some of its worst wildfires in recorded history since then.