Beetlemania

I have several trees dripping with sap (supposedily from the pine beetle). Is the beetle usually still in the trees during the winter or do they leave the tree after the breeding season in August? Do we need to cut the trees and let them dry out killing the beetle or do we need to cut the tree, buck it into small pieces and black tarp to kill the beetle? Please lend me some advise. Thank you.

In the early 1980s, north central New Mexico had a bud worm infestation. Same problem, trees dying by the millions. The solution was not to treat individual trees but to aero spray the whole forest., after the removal of environmentalist from lying on the runways. It was either spray and possibly kill some of the wildlife or let the forest die and all the wildlife with it. They went ahead with spraying the forest and today it looks as good as ever.

Come to central Utah and go into the Dixie National Forest or the Manti- LaSal National Forest. Then after you have fallen in love with the color orange, (which fully 1/3 of the pine trees are), get on your computer and make a donation to the Sierra Club, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, U S National Forest Disservice or the idiot of your choice. After all, don't we live in a desert, trees have no place.

Scorced earth policy is fine with Uncle Sam! What do We the People have to do with it,, we have no choice they make for us,, do we???

The Old Timers in Montana would put out a vat of oil per acre which attracts the beetles and stops the spread before it gets bad, I don't know what kind of oil or how much a vat is, but we need to have forest management. The good thing is that the small pine trees are not kiied. The Spruce Bud Worm is now becomming epidemic in Montana and if alllowed to continue, it will blanket kill all of the fur and spruce trees. Again, we need to have forest management like done all over Europe where the local people are in charge of their own forests and are proud of their back yards! Wait unit the Spruce Bud Worm comes, it is really ugly. There are environmentaly safe insecticides out there now, we just need forest management!

The Old Timers in Montana would put out a vat of oil per acre which attracts the beetles and stops the spread before it gets bad, I don't know what kind of oil or how much a vat is, but we need to have forest management. The good thing is that the small pine trees are not kiied. The Spruce Bud Worm is now becomming epidemic in Montana and if alllowed to continue, it will blanket kill all of the fur and spruce trees. Again, we need to have forest management like done all over Europe where the local people are in charge of their own forests and are proud of their back yards! Wait unit the Spruce Bud Worm comes, it is really ugly. There are environmentaly safe insecticides out there now, we just need forest management!

Who cares the forest are in the way of the trees, and besides as we enter the nuclear age, we don't need trees for nothing. So let them die, all of them, every where! So you need a movie to show your grandkids what a tree USED to look like, before we debated them into exstinction! Really who needs trees any way??

Nope can't believe!! Bush and Cheney say it's not real, so it's not! why worry?

This is mostly a result of the Forest Service and it mismanagement of the forests. Instead of allowing the removal of stressed trees and following generally accepted forestry practices, they followed the policy that no management was the best. In the 90's they were presented with reports saying that this would be the result. They ignored them and followed politically correct forestry. Compare the USDA's forests to privately managementd prorties and you will see the difference.

sorry to but in on this subject but it's early and I just wanted to say Obama's is doing a great job representing himself the Senate,his family,his voters and most off all the Afro American race for this show 's that we can not only be diplomatic but can speak for ourselves and do carry a valid opinion on world veiw's hey not only is the black race proud of you but America can stand on this too as a platform on civil right's for all go get um buddy'''

Yeah right.....kill the beaver saves the wood.

This is what we get for preventing forest fires. Its natures way of replenishing the forests. Every time we stop a fire, less fertilization occurs making whats already there that much weaker. When will we learn?

Yes, tsides22, you are right. Nature destroys too, and it can be brutal. It is all part of the WHOLE PICTURE of the cycle of things, and insures the renewal of all living things. Around my mountain home, I have watched something as benign as humming birds and the brutality hummer shows to another - not wanting to share.... It is all about survival and yes, it can be brutal. It is all a very delicate cycle and whenever we interfere in a large way there are large repercussions. Whether it is the environmentalists or the "oil & gas Behemoths", the results can be similar and devastating. I watched my home area be destroyed when, after decades of over-vigilant fire suppression, our forests became overgrown with crowded, weak, sick, old trees and serious overgrowth of underbrush. Then there was a fire no-one could stop that burned for 3 weeks at a temperature of 2500 degrees (not the usual 250 degrees). The result was not a cleansed forest but a totally destroyed forest including seared soil ??? followed by rain and mud slides. Talk about destroyed wildlife and a ruined habitat!!! The problem is that both groups see the situation from very narrow points of view and are too focused to see the whole picture. Each side then develops an emotional attachment to their cause and it moves from the cause with some valid points to a war against the opposition. At that point all objectivity is lost and no-one is talking rationally. On the one hand, we do need to use some of the resources of nature not just to survive but to live reasonably comfortable lives, but we need to be vigilant of how much and how we get it, etc. Environmentalism is a good and necessary concept ??? but it too must be tempered in reality. Like nature things must be in balance. It???s all about moderation!!!!

Also??? To unraveled13, unless you live in a cave in the desert or woods where there is no road or significant trail, and have no car, no TV, no gas, and posses only a minimal number of necessary household tools and clothing items, then you too (like most of us) are part of the ruined environment problem. We don???t NEED ¾ of the things we have (like being hooked up to the internet typing on this note on this computer) ??? but we don???t want to give them up???. I do know a few people who live that way ??? but not many ??? (and I am not one of them) ??????not even most of the environmentalist I know!

First of all, the pine beetle infestation is a natural phenomenon that has been exacberated by warmer days, longer and warmer summers, and shorter and warmer winters. In the article, it states the stands are 80 years old and, therefore, should be dying soon. However, historically lodgepole pine stands in North Central Colorado have a historic range of variation--or the period between stand-replacing events of more than 100 years, and up to 150 years in Colorado. (http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/Volume_1/pinus/contorta.htm under "reaction to competition"). This means that the last fires in these pine stands occurred between 1850 and 1900--before the practice of widespread fire suppression started. So, if these stands are only 80 years old, they should still have another 20 years or so before it's time for a stand-replacing fire. The point is, it's not too late to do the right thing when a fire starts--which is to let it burn. People living in lodgepole pine stands need to understand they choose to live in a fire-dependant ecosystem, which means it is VERY important to have defensible space around buildings (and it sounds like people such as pejsar are doing the right thing and reducing fuel loads on their land).

First of all, the pine beetle infestation is a natural phenomenon that has been exacberated by warmer days, longer and warmer summers, and shorter and warmer winters. In the article, it states the stands are 80 years old and, therefore, should be dying soon. However, historically lodgepole pine stands in North Central Colorado have a historic range of variation--or the period between stand-replacing events of more than 100 years, and up to 150 years in Colorado. (http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/Volume_1/pinus/contorta.htm under "reaction to competition"). This means that the last fires in these pine stands occurred between 1850 and 1900--before the practice of widespread fire suppression started. So, if these stands are only 80 years old, they should still have another 20 years or so before it's time for a stand-replacing fire. The point is, it's not too late to do the right thing when a fire starts--which is to let it burn. People living in lodgepole pine stands need to understand they choose to live in a fire-dependant ecosystem, which means it is VERY important to have defensible space around buildings (and it sounds like people such as pejsar are doing the right thing and reducing fuel loads on their land).