Beetle Kill in the Colorado Mountains

Driving into the high country is a thrilling and wonderful experience most of the time. For the past couple of seasons, however, there is a sadness too. The beautiful pine forests that Colorado natives and tourists alike have enjoyed for decades are being systematically attacked and killed by a ruthless and rampant enemy:  The Mountain Pine Beetle. Why is this happening and what is the prognosis for the future of the Rocky Mountains and other areas being blighted by this little creature?

According to the Colorado State University Extension, “Mountain pine beetles develop in pines, particularly Ponderosa, Lodgepole, Scotch and Limber pine. Bristlecone and Pinon pine are less commonly attacked. During early stages of an outbreak, attacks are limited largely to trees under stress from injury, poor site conditions, fire damage, overcrowding, root disease or old age. However, as beetle populations increase, MPB attacks may involve most large trees in the outbreak area.”  The infested tree turns yellow and then rust color throughout the entire crown of the tree, giving visual evidence that the beetle has attacked. At the end of the summer, the adult beetle will leave the dying tree to seek out new green trees to feed on.

The beetles mate, form a vertical tunnel under the bark of the tree and lay approximately 75 eggs.  The larvae then eat a path away from the tunnel, forming a characteristic pattern underneath the bark.  The larvae live through the winter under the bark and survive by producing a type of anti-freeze which keeps them alive.  The recent warmer winters have encouraged the growth and development of the larvae, because only sustained subfreezing winter conditions of 30 degrees below zero (Fahrenheit) for 5 or more days will kill them.  One natural predator of the mountain pine beetle is the woodpecker, but they are only able to eat a limited number of the little bugs.  The attack on our trees has been going on since 1996, but is becoming very noticeable in the past few seasons. Federal and state forestry officials are very concerned that in the next 4-5 years, we may see the end of the Lodgepole pine in northern Colorado and the front range. It’s very clear that the forest service has a tremendous job on their hands in both the management of the infestation and the thinning of the affected forest to minimize risk to healthy trees.

The Good News and the Bad News

In visiting the affected areas, we tried to determine the good and the bad aspects of this eco-cycle. Here are some of the Pros and Cons as we saw them.

• Pro: The dying of the old trees opens up the canopy of the forest and allows new growth, both of trees and grasses of many types as well as wildflowers.
• Con: The large acres of standing dead pine is tragic to see.
• Pro: The dry firewood is more available from the standing dead trees for the campers.
• Con: Instability of the trees and fire danger is obvious. Pay close attention to the safety of your campsite, the safe exit strategy and the fire use in the campsite to avoid forest fires.
• Pro: Old growth wood for loggers to harvest for processing and commerce.
• Con: Logging will be more active and create noise and dusty activity during the camping season.
• Pro: Preparing for logging means highway upgrades and re-surfacing of well traveled roads which is great.
• Con: Big machinery and delays on highways and possibly the logging traffic will tear up back country roads, making trailer travel more challenging.

No matter what, a visit to our Colorado mountains is rewarding and beautiful and even though the landscape is changing, with a little extra care, information and preparation, you can still have a great camping experience!