Tiny Beetle Chews Way Through Millions of Trees
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123033419759936309.html From New Mexico to Canada, Sweeping Pine Tree Vistas Disappear as Officials, Strapped by Tight Budgets, Cope With Fallout By STEPHANIE SIMON DENVER -- State and federal lawmakers returning to work next month will face urgent requests for help dealing with a tiny bug that has chewed an enormous swath of destruction across the West. The mountain pine beetle has killed tens of millions of trees in Colorado alone and has destroyed forests from New Mexico to Canada. Across the Rocky Mountain West, iconic postcard vistas are vanishing as entire mountainsides turn first a sickly shade of rust, then a ghostly gray. Female beetles, about the size of a fingertip, bore into a tree and deposit their eggs in the layer of tissue under the bark. When the larvae hatch, they begin eating the tree from the inside, cutting off the flow of nutrients to branches and needles. It is impossible to get ahead of the beetle; all scientists can do is let the infestation run its course. The beetle is expected to kill virtually every mature lodgepole pine in Colorado, or five million of the state's 22 million forested acres. View Full Image Beetles Chew Through Trees Alamy Mountain pine beetles, about the width of a fingertip are expected to kill every mature lodgepole pine in Colorado. Beetles Chew Through Trees Beetles Chew Through Trees Already, elected officials are confronting the aftermath. Among their challenges: The dead and dying forests will be highly flammable for as long as two decades. But Colorado's rural and mountain communities report increasing difficulty recruiting the volunteer firefighters who handle most emergency calls. "If there's a major fire from the pine-beetle infestation, all of us are going to be understaffed," said Jamey Bumgarner, the fire chief for the community of Larkspur, in the foothills south of Denver. A large wildfire could threaten not only homes and resorts, but also the power grid. Three major transmission lines that feed into the Western grid pass through beetle-infested forests. A fire could melt the transmission towers, cutting power to millions. "It's a matter of regional, even national, security," said Colorado state Rep. Christine Scanlan, a Democrat. The power lines are also at risk from falling trees. Millions of dying pines will topple over the next 15 years. "What are they going to fall on? Power lines, roads, trails, campgrounds, water-storage tanks, fencing," said Clint Kyhl, who leads the U.S. Forest Service's beetle-response team. He estimates the Forest Service will need $200 million to clear dying trees from critical infrastructure. Budgets, however, are tight everywhere, and that kind of money hasn't been forthcoming. Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat, plans to ask the state legislature to allocate $5.5 million for beetle mitigation. The federal government has committed $26 million to regional efforts. State lawmakers, meanwhile, are floating proposals to offer such incentives as tax rebates and college-tuition vouchers to volunteer firefighters. They are also considering a loan fund for entrepreneurs who find creative uses for lumber from the beetle-kill. (The infestation streaks the wood an unusual shade of denim blue, so it's not fit for some construction jobs.) Already, companies are turning dead trees into fuel pellets for wood-burning stoves, and there is a project in the works to convert the lumber into ethanol. "This is an opportunity to create jobs, even in this down economy, from what is a really tragic situation for Colorado," said state Sen. Mike Kopp, a Republican. Forestry experts also see an opportunity to promote new strategies for managing public lands. View Full Image Beetles Chew Through Trees Associated Press Pine trees in the state's White River National Forest were killed by the beetle, whose larvae are hatched under bark, allowing them to consume the tree from the inside. Beetles Chew Through Trees Beetles Chew Through Trees The infestation took root in part because temperatures in the region have been too warm in recent years to kill beetle larvae. A long drought is another factor, as it has left trees stressed and susceptible. But foresters pin much of the blame on management practices. Decades of fire suppression and logging restrictions left the forests densely packed with towering, century-old lodgepole pines, which happen to be the beetles' favorite food. Scientists say in the ideal forest, old-growth trees would stand 20 feet apart from one another. In many Rocky Mountain forests today, the trees are so close, you can't walk between them. Tom DeLuca, senior forest ecologist with the Wilderness Society, and other specialists advocate letting more wildfires burn as long as they don't threaten homes. Some also call for proactive thinning of forests, or efforts to nurture a variety of tree species so the beetles don't enjoy an endless buffet of lodgepoles. As a more immediate step, they urge creating fire breaks by strategically clear-cutting strips of forest to protect homes, power lines and transmission towers. Such steps aren't always popular. "They create a lot of fear," said Mr. Kyhl, of the Forest Service. "We need to work with the public." A public accustomed to deep-green forests may also need help adjusting to the new look of the Western landscape. "Things do look pretty grim," Mr. DeLuca said. "It really affects people." He recommends a spring hike into the dying forests, where wildflowers, grasses and seedlings emerge between the skeletal pine trees. "There's an explosion of life," he said. "It's a special time. You just have to be willing to look down, instead of up." Write to Stephanie Simon at <mailto:[email protected]>[email protected] <*}}}>< <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/please%20donate.html>Donations are needed and very much appreciated <*}}}>< <*}}}>< <http://www.holypostage.com/>Holy Postage <*}}}>< <*}}}><<http://www.halfthekingdom.org/>Half the <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/>Kingdom!<*}}}>< Lord, may everything we do begin with Your inspiration and continue with Your help, so that all our prayers and works may begin in You and by You be happily ended. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Please note that I do not send or open attachments sent to this list. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Catholics on Fire" group. 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