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WORRIED ABOUT YOUR TREES? CALL THE “BEETLE BUSTERS!” (Now with their own
WEBSITE)
Colorado
is experiencing an epidemic of bark beetles, both the familiar
Mountain Pine Beetle and the even more devastating
Ips Beetle. These tiny creatures can kill a tree in a year. Each
infested tree can produce enough beetles to kill from three to ten more trees
the next year. Foresters project that the beetle epidemic in heavily
infested areas will be over in a few years. The reason? There will be no
more live trees for the beetles to kill.
Volunteers
from Pine Brook Hills, Carriage Hills and Boulder Heights are working to keep our
neighborhood from sharing the fate of places like Grand Lake, where a forest
of dead sticks has replaced the beautiful green trees of just a few years
ago. The volunteers call themselves the Beetle Busters. They’ve been studying
the beetles and their ways.
If
you spot a dead tree, PLEASE DON'T JUST CUT IT DOWN! The beetles
don't care if they're vertical or horizontal. The tree has to be cut and
treated (either strip the bark, remove the logs, or chemically treat the
logs) If one of these steps isn't taken, each infested tree can kill several
new trees in the next flight - and Ips beetles can fly four times a year.
If you invite the Beetle Busters to
your property, a team of two or more will appear, binoculars, magnifying
glasses and other tools at the ready. They will appraise the general health
of your part of the forest and look at individual trees for indications of
beetle and dwarf mistletoe infestation. You will get a report and
recommendations. It’s free. No obligation.
Send
email to:
BeetleBusters@pinebrookhills.org to schedule an inspection or to join the Busters, or contact the BMFPD Mitigation Program
at 303.440.0235.
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