Since the end of the eighteenth century forest damage caused by the pathogen Gremmeniella abietina has been observed and documented. During the latest epidemic in Sweden more than 480 000 hectares forest land have been injured and this has lead to considerable economic losses. For the pathogen to succeed with infection, spore dispersal and colonization the right environmental conditions is required. The aim of this paper is to describe the diseased stands using site and stand characteristics and to evaluate the effect of these variables on the disease incidence. Further, the thinning performed during the time for spore dispersal and its relationship to injured stands is examined.