Fact Sheet About Eastern Red Cedar

A USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) survey in 1985 found an estimated 3.5 million acres of rangeland, pasture and forestland had been invaded by cedar compared to 1.5 million acres in 1950. The acreage increased to eight million acres by 2004 and without control will reach 12.6 million acres by 2013 (28 percent of the Oklahoma landscape). The surveys are based upon estimates of land with at least 50 cedar trees per acre. In Oklahoma, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) estimates the number of Eastern Red Cedars is increasing at  an estimated rate of 852 acres a day or over 300,000 acres a year. It is estimated that at this rate of spread, the red cedar population doubles every 18 years. The trees are affecting people’s health, reducing productivity from grasslands and destroying wildlife habitat, all of which is costing the state millions of dollars each year, according to the Red Cedar Task Force formed in 2002 by the Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture and Secretary of the Environment. Oklahoma State University research shows that one acre of cedar trees can absorb 55,000 gallons of water per year, which means less water goes into lakes and aquifers, threatening water supplies for cities and towns. In 2000, it was estimated that red cedars cost Oklahoma $218 million dollars annually through catastrophic wildfires, as well as loss of cattle forage, wildlife habitat, recreation and water yield. By 2013 that figure is expected to increase to $447 million if major preventative control steps are not taken to control the invading cedars. Eastern Red Cedar trees have become a problem across the western United States with exploding populations, due to their fast growth and high cost of removal ($50-$150 per acre). They are an invasive species that has literally invaded the land. Eastern Red Cedar is the most widely distributed conifer in the eastern United States, east of the Rockies, with isolated occurrences in Oregon in the west. Land management planning assistance, such as prescribed burning and follow up management are available through the NRCS. Cost-share funding for cedar removal is also available through NRCS. Interested landowners can contact local NRCS field office personnel. NRCS has field offices in nearly every county in the United States.

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