Fungi inhabiting southern pine utility poles during manufacture

Southern pine utility poles were examined at two commercial sites in the southeastern United States for the presence of fungi during the processing steps of storage, kiln-drying, and treatment with chromated copper arsenate (CCA) preservative. Active fungi were recovered from green poles that had been peeled and stored at the treating facilities for 2 days, 2 weeks, or 6 weeks prior to kiln-drying. No fungi were recovered at either site immediately after kiln-drying, indicating that high-temperature kiln-drying effectively eradicated fungi from these poles. A subset of kiln-dried poles deliberately left untreated for an extended storage period (12 weeks at Site A and 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks at Site B) produced a significant number of isolates. Soft-rot fungi were isolated after 2 weeks, Basidiomycete fungi after 6 weeks. Weather conditions, particularly precipitation, appeared to contribute to re-colonization. Results suggest that a maximum of 2 weeks of storage after kiln-drying before preservative treatment would be prudent, particularly in regions of high moisture and temperature.