Scenery a problem, then fire
Beetles are attacking more lodgepole pines than ever before; trees can't be
saved
Nicole
Frey
September 20, 2005
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EAGLE COUNTY - With a 3-inch blade, Cal Wettstein cut into a
lodgepole pine tree, stripping off a chunk of bark. The wood beneath revealed a
black speck the size of a grain of rice - a mountain pine beetle.
It was already dead, but the beetle left behind a disease capable of bringing
down the towering pine.
Digging further revealed a tiny, wriggling larvae. Its soft pink body was
indistinguishable except for a mouth occupying a third of its body. Together
with millions of its comrades, the beetle is wrecking havoc on Eagle County's
forests, causing them to go red, not with the changing seasons, but with death.
It's not our fault
While humans are often the instigators of such ecological tragedies, this time,
our hands are clean, said town of Vail and county officials involved with the
problem.
"Humans play absolutely no role in the infestation," said Tom Talbot, fire
technician and wildland coordinator for Vail's fire department.
As part of the natural cycle of life for lodgepole pines, mountain pine beetles
appear toward the end of a tree's life to help finish it off. However, years of
drought have led to weakened trees that are unable to fight off the infestation.
A pine beetle, the kind that is destroying
much of the pines in the valley, is exposed to the elements after the tree
is brought down and stripped open by a crew of low risk prisoners Wednesday
in the upper Donavon Bench area in West Vail. The crew, under the direction
of the Fire Department and the Town of Vail is clearing pines and aspens
from the area to allow for new healthy trees to grow.
Dominique Taylor/Vail Daily
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Instead of attacking a historical average of about 30
percent of lodgepole pines, the beetle is after nearly all of them this year,
said Wettstein, the district ranger in Eagle County.
Infested trees are identified by "pitch tubes" - holes oozing sap from where the
tree tried to push out an invading bug.
"It's pretty much the kiss of death," Wettstein said. "And there are millions
and millions of the little devils here."
Thousands of beetles will feed off a tree to eventually kill it. The beetles
deposit blue stain fungus, which cuts off the flow of water and nutrients
through the tree, turning the tree a telltale red or brownish rusty color.
Beetles usually spend six to seven years killing off old trees and are
eventually curbed by cold winters or rebuffed by healthy trees. The current
beetle outbreak started in 1998 or 1999, Wettstein said.
But lacking cold enough winters, he worries the beetles will run out of trees to
eat before they're forced to leave the area.
Would-a, could-a, should-a
Driving up Meadow Mountain on a bright, cloudless day, Wettstein stopped
suddenly and hopped out of the truck to survey the landscape -- aspen trees
turning gold marred by dead and dying lodgepole pines in shades of green and
red.
| What you can do |
| If you suspect trees on you property may be
infested with mountain pine beetles, contact your local fire department
for an assessment the need for treatment. |
|
"Whenever I see this, I just say, 'Oh man,'" he said.
"Yikes... Even the green ones, they're probably dead. Man, that's ugly. This
just blows me away. Every time I come out here there are more dead trees.
"I always want to say to people, 'Yeah, we're on top of it," but there's nothing
we can do to save them," Wettstein said. "It's bad now, and it's going to be
worse next year. It's just cleanup now. We will deal with what they leave us in
the aftermath."
Although officials hear continuous criticism for their lack of foresight, they
said starting on the project five or even 10 years ago would have made no
difference. Large scale efforts would have had to begin 30 or 40 years ago to
mitigate the infestation, but the social and political climate of the day did
not permit it, Wettstein said.
With a passionate anti-logging climate, foresters were obligated to keep their
trees standing, even though it would have been healthier to cut some down, he
said.
Some smaller patches logged and replanted in the 1970s and '80s are healthy and
resisting the beetle. But there are few of those groves.
"People want to see results today, and it's hard for people to grasp that we
need to work now to protect ourselves 20, 50, 150 years from now," Wettstein
said.
Down in Vail
Vail officials are trying to speed up the natural cycle that, once the trees are
dead, would see fire sweep through the forest, causing pine cones to burst and
leveling the forest floor to ready it for new life.
A forest fire Monday swept through pine trees
between Breckenridge and Frisco Monday. Many of the trees had been killed or
infected by pine beetles.
Brad Odekirk/Summit Daily
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Along with federal and state forest services, Vail is
removing dead and infested trees on about 29 acres of land on the upper bench of
Donovan Park in West Vail. Men from the Juniper Valley wildfire crew, made up of
prison inmates, will cut and pile about 1,000 trees.
Some trees will be hauled out of the area while others will be stacked into
teepees awaiting snow so Vail firefighters can conduct controlled, small-scale
burns. Larger logs will be left in the forest to let nature take its course.
Small, controlled fires are meant to prevent larger forest fires and protect the
valley's scenic corridor. "Who wants to come and vacation in the Vail Valley if
it's a bunch of burnt toothpicks?" said Talbot of the Vail fire department.
Flames in the future
Vail's efforts are just one in a series of forest-health projects to remove dead
and infested trees from around town, but it will likely be the largest.
"It's rewarding to know that there will be new growth here," Talbot said. "I'm
hoping my children will be able to enjoy it."
Around the county, the forest service will continue efforts to prevent or lessen
the severity of wildfires, while sustaining the resort-based economy, Wettstein
said.
"The problem right now is scenery. In a couple of decades it's fire," Wettstein
said. "In 20 to 40 years, there will be a fire, and we won't be able to stop it.
These will be immense fires in the tens of thousands of acres."
However, driving down Meadow Mountain, looking over the
patchwork quilt of colors on the hillside in the backdrop of the jagged Gore
range, Wettstein was optimistic.
"It's a resilient landscape," he said. "It will take care of itself."
Staff Writer Nicole Frey can be reached at 949-0555, ext. 454, or
nfrey@vaildaily.com.
Vail, Colorado