The Ridge at Fox Run

Bark beetle infestation

Bark beetle infestation

This article is from the October 19, 1999 issue of the Colorado Springs Gazette

Bark beetle infestation poses threat to forest

Blown-down trees harbor insects
Associated Press

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS - A bark-beetle epidemic is expected to erupt from 20,000 acres of trees blown down in the Routt National Forest.

Forest Service officials point to the clumps of gray, hying trees northeast of Steamboat Springs. They fear the result will eventually be an invasion of beetles throughout the 500,000 acre forest in north-central Colorado.

"We've come to the conclusion that an epidemic in the entire forest is inevitable and there's not much we can do," said Frank Cross of the Routt National Forest.

The trees were toppled by a freak storm in 1997,when winds of about 120 mph ripped through the forest.

Spraying insecticide. cutting down infected trees, the forest or burning trees on a widespread basis are out of the question because it would cost several million dollars, said Lynn Young, spokesman for the regional Forest Service office in Lakewood.

"Once you've got it, there's not a lot of choices about what you can do,' Young said.

The real effects likely will be seen in 2002, officials said. The beetles kill the trees during a two-year cycle that starts with nesting under the bark.

After this winter, the larvae will hatch and grow into flying beetles.

"And the beetles are going to start flying this spring," Cross said. "In the year 2002, all the beetles will come out of the blowdown en masse."

Forest Service officials said the only natural event that halts a beetle population boom is sub-zero weather.

Proponents of logging the blown-over trees have predicted beetles would spread if the trees weren't removed. Some environmentalists have opposed widespread logging because about 8,000 acres are in the Mount Zirkel Wilderness and other trees are on the edge of the area.

About 2,200 acres of the trees are being logged.

Other forests in Colorado also are battling the tree-killing insects.