Pine needles turn light to pale green then brown. Entire tree rapidly. Started with one tree following consumers cutting branches. Spread to others after the 1st died.

Hi Craig,

Looking at the pictures, and knowing there really isn't any disease affecting white pine growing in that formation, I would lean heavily toward drought stress. It looks like they are exposed to some heavy winds? White pine and other conifers can easily experience winter burn. 

https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/sizing_up_winter_injury

Conifers retain their needles all year long, making them susceptible to losing moisture through their stomata, or openings through which respiration occurs. When temps rise in the winter, the stomata open and the tree respires. However, the frozen ground prevents the tree from taking up the moisture lost during respiration events. As temps rise and fall throughout the winter, the needles continue to lose moisture. If spring weather is hot, with little precipitation (as it was last spring) the tree may stay green for a while, then succumb to the lack of moisture. So, oddly enough, this is drought stress despite the snow pack on the ground. This is very common throughout the state; I frequently see rows of reddish-brown pines in my travels. 

Best course of action is to replant the area with a mixture of pines, in a windbreak fashion to lessen the impact on some of the conifers in formation. 

http://www.centerforagroforestry.org/academy/2015/chp6-Windbreaks_2015.pdf

I hope this helps. Please feel free to reach out to continue the conversation if you'd like. 

Thank you,

Julie

I appreciate your answer but this happened mid summer to late fall. Very rapid. Not during the winter. Most of our wind is from the south and west. These trees, while along the road, are on the north side of all my pines. The ones on the south and west look great. Started with the one and moved to ones nearby. 

does this make a difference?  Not trying to argue at all. Just providing more info. I am simply concerned of losing all that I have planted over 30 years. They are getting to look very nice

thank you

Thank you for the additional information!

There is a fungal canker called white pine blister rust that can affect white pine trees; it also requires the alternate host of gooseberry, or currant. Currant bushes are similar to raspberries, only the thorns are much smaller and cover the entire light brown twig. Round berries are produced in the summer months that start out green, and turn red or black (depending on the variety). White pine blister rust usually take a few years to kill a tree, but perhaps the information in the article will resonate with your situation?

https://extension.umn.edu/plant-diseases/white-pine-blister-rust#:~:text=White%20pine%20blister%20rust%20(WPBR,in%20late%20summer%20favor%20infection.

You'll want to examine the branches of the dead white pine trees for signs of cankers oozing sap - especially this time of year. 

The only other thought is road salt. Not sure if the road they are on is salted, but residual salt in the soil can take a while to kill white pine trees, which are very sensitive to road salt. 

https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/why_are_my_pine_trees_turning_brown

Please feel free to respond with more information! Or if one of the above pieces of information seems to match your situation. 

Thank you,

Julie

Thank you for the additional information. 

The spots you are seeing is lichen, it's natural, and does not hurt the tree. 

https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/liking_lichens_in_the_landscape

I'm going to provide this information to a forest pathologist researcher on campus and request assistance from her. 

I'll be in touch shortly.

Thank you!

-Julie