Pine Beetle Kill

**adam** · 10-12-2009, 11:26 PM

Really good article in Backcountry this month

DEADWOOD-MOUNTAIN PINE BEETLE ALTERS THE WESTERN GLADESCAPE

A band of beetles is holding concert in mountainous regions across Western North America, leaving swaths of dead, red topped lodgepole pine in its wake. No cute British accent here - mountain pine beetles have been on a killing spree since 1996, boring into trees, laying eggs, and introducing a fungus that eventually suffocates the pines by impeding water absorption.

The influence of subsequent deforestation has on avalanche danger, and the new terrain hazards caused by deadfall is just being realized. Unfortunately for skiers and riders, all branches point toward a more dangerous backcountry.

Photographer Justin Cash and I skin through boot-deep hoar as snow-laced wind sends the entire forest of beetle-killed lodgepole pine into shakes and seizures. Cracking, squeaking, groaning trunks sound off between gusts, swaying stiffly in eccentric curves. We're at Colorado's ground zero, Arapaho National Forest, south of Frisco, checking out the pine beetles' impact on the backcountry, hoping not to have a personal encounter with one of the brittle widow-makers threatening from all directions.

According to 2007 aerial surveys conducted by the Forest Service, 1.5 of the state's 1.7 million acres of lodgepole pines were infested with beetles. The Forest Service predicts that within 3-5 years, all of the mature lodgepole will be dead. And the infestations aren't limited to Colorado. Beetles are wreaking havoc in South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and far away as British Columbia-where nearly 36 million acres are affected.

The primary culprit is warmer weather-it needs to hit -40F to kill the beetles and stop an outbreak. In Colorado, warmer temps, drought conditions, and a majority of even aged trees are all working against forest mangers. For backcountry users, the beetle killed forests are more than an eyesore; they could mean a shorter, more dangerous winter season.

When a lodgepole pine dies, its 1-2 inch needles dry out, turn a telltale brick red, and eventually drop off. Because needles are dark in color, needle topped snow absorbs more solar heat, which speeds up the metamorphosis of the snowpack. And While there are now no long term studies to guide forest managers, its fair to guess that once the shade provided by the canopy is gone, snow melt rates will speed up even more, says Rick Cables, Regional Forester for the Rocky Mountain Region.

Snowpack longevity aside, the millions of dead snags littering forests across the West can fall over unpredictably, posing a serious threat to recreationists like Cash and me. As the canopy-less skeletons sway around us, we're not comforted to know that the most shallow rooted Lodgepoles typically topple within 5-10 years of mortality. Arapaho National Forest has been infested since 1996. Do the math.

"The trees are going to fall- I would not be skiing through affected stands" backcountry skier and Recreation Staff Officer for Colorado's White River National Forest Rich Doak warns. He's also wary of the new ground hazards the beetle kill will create for backcountry skiers and snowmobilers. Once the trees fall, the resultant twisted mate of trunks and limbs creates an invisible tiger pit of roughage beneath the snow. Doak calls this debris "Jack Straw."

It's a new set of factors, to which Cash and I are completely oblivious as we pass through stand after stand f lifeless lodgepole. We're at ease traveling in the crowded forest, even if it looks Napalmed. At least we don't have to worry about avalanches, we think, as we transition for our first run. But that may not be the case.

The difference is dead wood. On a given slope, avalanche danger is generally lower with live lodgepole timer stands than with beetle killed trees, according to Doug Abromeit, Director the forest Service National Avalanche Center.

"Live tree trunks in dense stands disrupt weak layers and anchor snow in place," Abromeit says, "And dense, live tree canopies slow the erosion and deposition of snow on ridge tops, which minimizes slab formation." Additionally, he says, when snow that has accumulated on the canopy branches falls due to warming or wind and penetrates the snowpack, it disrupts weak layers and acts like rebar, tying the snowpack together. No canopy equals no stabilizing plops of snow.

It may have me singing "Jack Straw" before reaching bottom, but I drop into an opening and arc a heelside slash anyway. My first couple turns are floaty and fun, but the snow turns to rot a foot below the surface. I scrape the undercover debris, core=shotting the board and nearly staving myself on a splintered limb. Doak wasn't kidding. The twisted mess below isn't going anywhere until a wildfire purges the forest Luckily, or perhaps not, increased fire danger is yet one more pine beetle byproduct.

That danger alone-the burn risk to thousands of homes, businesses, roads, parks, and other expensive infrastructure-has spurred communities like Frisco and Breckenridge to collaborate with the USFS, all working together, all working together to stop the bleeding. Because the beetles prey on the mature trees, foresters believe the younger, more diverse-aged trees will fend off the outbreak. Doak says simply: "There are no easy solutions." It will be decades before the lodgepole forests recover.

As Cash and I beat a hasty escape after my near miss, we heed Doak's advice for all backcountry skiers and riders who may encounter beetle-killed forest: "have a heightened sense of situational awareness," he cautions. "There's a new variable to consider".

What say you?

**Humble** · 10-12-2009, 11:51 PM

pine beetle > lodgepole pine

-40F > pine beetle

global warming > -40F

isn't it my (your (our)) own fault

**Goatski** · 10-12-2009, 11:59 PM

i've been in a beetle-kill zone when the wind picked up enough to topple a tree nearby. didn't see it, only heard the destruction. after that i've kept an eye on the canopy when the frail, dry timber starts to moan in the breeze. definitely another variable in the already dangerous Colorado backcountry.

the dead needles falling into the snow have made conditions worse on a good day, but have also saved me on those sloppy days. the needley areas of snow seem to consolidate faster and offer more support on those hollow spring days.

i'm really just hoping for a few massive fires to burn

**hitmanbob** · 10-13-2009, 01:27 AM

Originally Posted by Humble

pine beetle > lodgepole pine

-40F > pine beetle

global warming > -40F

isn't it my (your (our)) own fault

end of thread, nothing to see here

**RagDoll** · 10-13-2009, 01:40 AM

Has this affected Wasatch yet or just CO so far?

**capulin overdrive** · 10-13-2009, 03:13 AM

appears to be just another crap article trying to guilt trip the lie of global warming!

**shera** · 10-13-2009, 06:34 AM

overly dramatic
Frisco is not ground zero
deadfall is part of skiing
"brittle widow-makers"

crybabies can't accept nature
global warming, oh my!
the trees will evolve to fight the beetles, or we'll just have spruce, fir and aspen instead of lodgepoles
go plant trees
more of Colorado's snowpack danger issues come from above treeline, not below
I'm looking forward to skiing lodgepole kills
vive le beetle! cleaning the forest since we can't let them burn
dead trees topple in 5-10 years, thanks for some solid information, I was curious about that
deadfall will rot and feed the forest floor
all the avy issues stated have been and will always be relevent, beetles or no
writer is a snowboarder that can't deal with coreshots
whole article seems so juvenile, like a highschooler wrote it
young trees will win and the forest will rise again - should have been the entire theme of the article
situational awareness - another good topic for an article

**OSECS** · 10-13-2009, 06:40 AM

All this and the farts of the pine beetle add to greenhouse gas emissions !!!!!!

Oh no's !!!!!!

**stevesmith7** · 10-13-2009, 06:51 AM

So if I pay $8/gal for gas and $1k a month to heat the house will the beetles go away?

**jonesy** · 10-13-2009, 07:11 AM

Those bugs have been chewing on LP for years around here. Awhile back they just moved on so no big deal. Try hauling dead LP on a log truck,that was the end of Logging here.

**haydukelives** · 10-13-2009, 07:40 AM

i see that the collective is wising up about the al gore bullshit

**summit** · 10-13-2009, 07:47 AM

There was a much more informative presentation by USFS at last year's CSAW

**Johnny Deep** · 10-13-2009, 07:48 AM

Originally Posted by RagDoll

Has this affected Wasatch yet or just CO so far?

Utah, BC, Montana. These basterds are everywhere. Kiss your homogeneous forests and bad management good bye.

**Blurred** · 10-13-2009, 08:21 AM

Originally Posted by haydukelives

i see that the collective is wising up about the al gore bullshit

Yes, after years of hammering it home.....WHERE'S WITHERSPOON??

**nick > jesus** · 10-13-2009, 08:27 AM

Originally Posted by SheRa

the trees will evolve to fight the beetles, or we'll just have spruce, fir and aspen instead of lodgepoles
young trees will win and the forest will rise again

while agree with most of what you said there, the above points are not going to happen in our lifetime...

**spotted dogs** · 10-13-2009, 08:31 AM

The interior of BC will lose 90% of all pine...there are many places that all you can see for miles is the red kill. The scary thing is that the pine beetle will move to other tree species when they have no alternatives so fir and spruce aren't safe either. We also have the joy of spruce bud worm which is killing all the spruce trees as well. What were once vast tracks of forest are either dead and red or clear cut. Yes it is part of a natural cycle, but the climate change we seem to be helping speed up certainly is not helping much either!

**shera** · 10-13-2009, 08:45 AM

Originally Posted by nick > jesus

while agree with most of what you said there, the above points are not going to happen in our lifetime...

So what? I think this falls under "accepting nature." She operates on her own time line. Plant trees, watch them grow over the course of your life. Much to be learned there. I recommend bristlecones.

Mountain Pine Beetle fact sheet from CSU Extension: http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05528.html

edit - this past spring I went to my childhood home and saw the live oaks that we planted 20 years ago. So big and thriving. It was a thrill to see.

**TeleHoar** · 10-13-2009, 08:59 AM

Save the Pine Beetle!
Just because they are not cute and cuddly doesn't mean they don't have the right to live too!! Their habitate is being destroyed by GW like those poor polar bears. Sad...

I think our cheap ski passes and our affordable housing has attracted the beetles here.
...at least they are here legally.

**tone capone** · 10-13-2009, 09:05 AM

isn't it my (your (our)) own fault

In a way, yes.

Yes it is part of a natural cycle, but the climate change we seem to be helping speed up certainly is not helping much either!
__________________

The mountain pine beetle is a native species. Outbreaks occur in a cycle with fluctuating temperature minimums. I know that is going to be way to difficult to understand for the global warming crowd which has no comprehension of geologic time. The reason it is so widespread now is because of forest mismanagement and the huge swaths of homogenous forest. Enjoy the apocolypse that will be the rocky mountain west after the next shitty snow year near you! After that, maybe we can start to take better care of our new forests. It's going to take lifetimes.

And by the way,
With sub zero air already invading Montana in early October, I'm betting on that -40 reading at some point this winter. That can still happen even with Al Gore shutting of the mic of and refusing to debate with dissenters to his global cap and trade scheme in which he gets richer and you get poorer.

**DAFTC** · 10-13-2009, 09:15 AM

when al gore comes up in a thread about deadfall, isn't it time for the move to asshattery??

In terms of skiing, there's nothing controversial about "there's a new variable to consider", other than it not really being all that new. Don't confuse the relatively straightforward question of "what does beetle kill mean for how skiers navigate the backcountry?" (answered nicely by SheRa as: situational awareness and good decisions) with the much harder question of "what does beetle kill mean for how forests are changing and how do those changes relate to big-picture social decisions?"
To which, "planting trees" is probably a necessary but nowhere close to sufficient answer.

The large tree species and associated parasites that make up Western forests are operating under novel conditions. The complexity of interacting forces ("natural" topographic and genetic variation, population cycles, shifting management priorities and tactics, altered atmospheric conditions, etc.) means that "making predictions" is really more about "considering scenarios".

Which is a familiar proposition to anyone who spends much time in a forest or above treeline, especially in the winter. We can go to a resort on days when we're not looking for the fun of making observations, putting those new observations into conversation with past knowledge and then making decisions with some amount of inherent risk.

**mitch_cumstein** · 10-13-2009, 09:16 AM

Has anyone commenting in this thread actually studied forestry or NR? I'd like to hear an informed opinion.

**shera** · 10-13-2009, 09:26 AM

Originally Posted by mitch_cumstein

Has anyone commenting in this thread actually studied forestry or NR? I'd like to hear an informed opinion.

Huh? This is TGR!

Seriously, I'd like to hear the same. I'm just an overly avid gardener.

**moose pit** · 10-13-2009, 09:29 AM

Originally Posted by spotted dogs

The interior of BC will lose 90% of all pine...there are many places that all you can see for miles is the red kill. The scary thing is that the pine beetle will move to other tree species when they have no alternatives so fir and spruce aren't safe either. We also have the joy of spruce bud worm which is killing all the spruce trees as well. What were once vast tracks of forest are either dead and red or clear cut. Yes it is part of a natural cycle, but the climate change we seem to be helping speed up certainly is not helping much either!

While the mountain pine beetle will attack genera other than pine it seldom if ever successfully produces a brood.

As long as there have been trees there have been insects that kill them, if you think that the last 150 years of human over population have greatly helped insects kick the shit outta forests you need to get in line with the rest of the sheep.

eh... there appears to be a little anecdotal evidence that the last major mountain pine beetle epidemic occurred (at least in BC) some time in the mid 1800's (I'll see if I can track it down).

Originally Posted by SheRa

overly dramatic
Frisco is not ground zero
deadfall is part of skiing
"brittle widow-makers"

crybabies can't accept nature
global warming, oh my!
the trees will evolve to fight the beetles, or we'll just have spruce, fir and aspen instead of lodgepoles
go plant trees
more of Colorado's snowpack danger issues come from above treeline, not below
I'm looking forward to skiing lodgepole kills
vive le beetle! cleaning the forest since we can't let them burn
dead trees topple in 5-10 years, thanks for some solid information, I was curious about that
deadfall will rot and feed the forest floor
all the avy issues stated have been and will always be relevent, beetles or no
writer is a snowboarder that can't deal with coreshots
whole article seems so juvenile, like a highschooler wrote it
young trees will win and the forest will rise again - should have been the entire theme of the article
situational awareness - another good topic for an article

that sums it up