Nearly 7 Million Iowa Trees were Damaged/Destroyed by the 2020 Derecho
According to the recently completed survey from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the state of Iowa had an estimated seven million trees damaged or destroyed by the derecho in August 2020. The derecho impacted 27 counties along U.S. Hwy. 30 corridors primarily in central and east-central Iowa.
The survey also looked at the damage to trees on rural lands and estimated that nearly 2.7 million trees in nearly 57,000 acres of Iowa’s forests were damaged or destroyed by the storm.
In 2016, the United States Department of Agriculture estimated that Iowa was home to over one billion trees. There are also at least 60 species across the state. The top five species with the greatest number of trees in the state are Bur Oak, Silver Maple, White Oak, Cottonwood, and Black Walnut. Twelve different species of oaks are native to Iowa. Iowa has ZERO national forests.
Of the estimated 4.4 million trees damaged, the most were in Linn County with over 953,000, followed by Polk County with over 642,000 and Scott County with over 514,000.
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