Sopris Sun THE
VOLUME 1, NUMBER 47 • JANUARY 7, 2010
Inbound beetles Marble Valley residents are beginning to brace for a bark beetle outbreak By Terray Sylvester The Sopris Sun
It won’t turn them completely red, but a budding bark beetle outbreak stands to kill many pines in the forests of the Marble Valley. Photo by Jane Bachrach
R
esidents of the Marble Valley are beginning to organize against the mountain pine beetle, which, unless mitigation efforts are taken, may threaten all of the pines in the valley. “There’s definitely a beetle infestation in the Marble Valley, and I would say it’s a major infestation,”said Ron Leach, chief of the Carbondale and Rural Fire Protection District.“I live in Marble and the lot across the street from me had about 10 big lodgepole pines on it – or maybe 15 – and every single one of them had to be cut down last year.” Marble is one of many communities in Colorado that is struggling to respond to the impacts of the naturally occurring insect, which has killed over two million acres of pines in Colorado, particularly in Eagle, Routt, Grand and Summit counties. Those familiar with the pine beetles in the Marble Valley state that the insect threatens many, if not all, of the mature ponderosa and
lodgepole pines in the valley.Though younger trees, which aren’t susceptible to the beetle, are less vulnerable. “It depends. If they’re young trees they’re going to be fine. It’s not like we’re seeing an extinction of lodgepole pine,” said Forest Service entomologist Tom Eager. “But some of the older, denser stands are at high risk. We could very well lose the majority of those stands.” Vulnerable trees stand throughout the federal and private lands in the valley and within the forested town itself, and residents monitoring the infestation have found about 100 trees in the populated areas of the valley that are in need of removal. Town councilman Jim Aarts, who has helped spearhead local efforts to mitigate the impact of the beetles, points to one “really bad spot” that spans several lots in the center of town between W. Fourth Street, W. State Street and Main Street.
But despite the dire implications of the infestation, experts emphasize that the beetle problem in the upper Crystal River watershed is less severe than the beetle outbreaks that have wiped out so many acres elsewhere in the state. That’s largely because forests in the valley are relatively diverse, Eager said. The pines – which are susceptible to the beetles – are mixed with spruce, fir, aspen and other trees, which aren’t. That diversity will minimize the impacts of the outbreak. Beetle-kill trees contribute to wildfire fuel loads, particularly once they’ve fallen. But with the pines scattered throughout the forest, the risks will be less, said Doug Paul, a fire mitigation specialist with a federal, interagency fire management unit that works in the upper Colorado River watershed. “[Beetle outbreaks] can definitely change the fuels. But up that way it isn’t a real big
concern,” Paul said. “Up there, there’s really no pure stand of lodgepole pine or ponderosa pine. They’re mixed in with other trees. So if a few pines die they’re surrounded by other trees that aren’t dying.” And the mosaic of species in the Marble Valley means that the visual impacts of the infestation will be less significant as well. But for landowners who stand to lose trees from their properties, and for the town that risks losing some of its stateliest residents, the infestation is a problem that must be addressed.
In search of solutions “I’ve looked at them so many times that I almost know them by name,” says Mike Preston, describing the many beetle-infested trees in and around the residential areas in the Marble Valley. Preston is familiar with the implications
Too many puny parks?
Wonders from waste wood
Loved ones lost
Page 3
Page 3
Page 5
BARK BEETLES page 8