Posted on 11/29/2006 10:24:12 AM PST by george76
The number of Colorado lodgepole pines killed by bark beetles jumped nearly fivefold in 2006 as the explosive, decadelong bug epidemic continues to gain steam.
About 4.8 million lodgepoles were killed this year, up from roughly 1 million trees last year, according to Bob Cain, an entomologist with the U.S. Forest Service in Golden.
The lodgepole acreage under attack by mountain pine beetles jumped about 50 percent this year to 644,840 acres, up from 430,526 acres last year.
The new numbers, which are considered preliminary, come from aerial tree-damage surveys conducted this summer.
"We had a significant increase in both acres and even more so in intensity - meaning that on the acres impacted, a lot more trees died," Cain said.
"They're not slowing down at all," he said. "There's nothing really stopping these beetles."
Colorado's lodgepole pines are found mainly in the state's north- central mountains, at elevations between 6,000 and 11,000 feet.
Many of the stands are more than a century old, with trees up to 80 feet tall.
The state's ponderosa pines are also under attack by mountain pine beetles, but "the big outbreaks are all in the lodgepole," Cain said.
Colorado has about 1.5 million acres of lodgepole-dominated forest, and about 43 percent of it is now infested.
(Excerpt) Read more at rockymountainnews.com ...
Your choice ?
.
I'm told that spraying with DDT works against this beetle.
• Number of Colorado lodgepole pine trees killed by mountain pine beetles
4.8 million in 2006
1 million in 2005
Do they taste good?
• Colorado lodgepole pine acres under attack by mountain pine beetles
644,840 in 2006
430,526 in 2005
Must be Norwegian Wood...
Bush's Fault
Bark Beetles mean one thing--the forest is too dense. Too many trees per acre leads to not enough water per tree. The dryer and more densely packed trees are then more susceptible to the beetle.
Thinning (logging) is the most logical and simple solution.
My father in law worked in the SC parks department for years and the treatment for beetle infestations was to cut and burn the infected trees and a cordon around the infected area. That stopped the spread. Unfortunately that's not the PC answer so we'll continue to see deforestation.
Yep, ddt also works on West Nile Virus carrying mosquitos.
Apparently if one tents an individual tree, chemicals can be helpful.
But it is very expensive and labor intensive.
and there are millions of infected trees.
We're all going to die.
Doesn't nature know best? Let nature take its course. Isn't that always the best thing to do? Those poor bugs deserve to live on this planet also. /s
No no no.
Acid rain and global warming kills the innocent old growth trees.
you mean we can't eat natural foods?
Does that mean they are getting together again?
gots two more to die off first...
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