Question
irecently moved into a house in MOrgantown, WV and have found the trees in the yard and neighboring yards to have this light green almost mushroom or barnicle like substance growing on them. The tree in my front yard is dead and the rest look sick or close to becoming. What is it?... and is there a way of saving the trees that aren't too far gone?

Answer
What you describe are lichens.  These are symbiotic relationships between fungi and algae.  They are not parasitic to plants and are just using the plant as an anchor.  They do indicate that the trees are stressed from old age, drought or some other factor.  They do not kill the trees, something else has.  We usually do not recommend any control for them, since they cause no harm.  They are actually an indicator that the air quality is good where you are since they are sensitive to air pollution.  I would fertilize any trees you wish to keep and make sure they get water during dry periods.  If you look closely around, you will see lichens are on just about every tree, some just more than others.  I wish you good luck.