Tree Farmer Alert 05/04/08 - the Pine Beetle Epidemic

A special WELCOME to those landowners who recently requested facts about the pine beetle epidemic and ways to mitigate the damage being caused.

It is your responsibility as a private forest landowner to properly manage your woodlands, but finding the best advice and assistance isn't always easy. There is a lot of conflicting information out there.

Local Tree Farm groups in Colorado maintain contact with many public agencies and private groups that are diligently working to find better ways to help landowners. We understand that forest landowners must start with reliable information if we have any hope of mitigating the damage caused by the epidemic. We believe that we can persuade more landowners to work in concert by sharing the most reliable information available and providing a forum to discuss how it is being used by others to make a difference.

We hope to tell you where to find reliable help:
to quickly and accurately identify infested trees on your property
to most effectively treat those trees to kill the beetles
to remove infested trees from the area before the beetles can fly
Let's get started by sharing a notice recently sent to Tree Farmers by the Colorado State Forest Service. Estes Park will host their Annual Estes Park Tree Symposium this coming Wednesday, May 7 (see attached file). The pine beetle has already attacked a significant number of trees in Rocky Mountain National park right next door. This event will provide an excellent opportunity to find out how this community plans to address the problem.
We will present a brief report on this event in an upcoming email alert.

Also, the Larimer County Tree Farmers are working with the Fort Collins District of the Colorado State Forest Service to host a "Pine Beetle Identification" workshop in the near future. This workshop will provide participants with an opportunity to practice identifying beetle infested trees in the field. Identification is a very important first step in addressing the epidemic. Previously stressed trees may be infested but difficult to spot. Other trees may have been attacked but have successfully repelled that attack and don't need to be removed. We'll notify you as soon as a date for the workshop is established. This might be a great opportunity to make your neighbors, family members and friends aware and get them involved. If the beetle continues to spread at the current rate, you may need a lot of help identifying infested trees quickly and removing them before the beetles fly in late summer and infest even more of your forest.

More soon.
Thanks for getting involved.
Wes@treefarmer.com