Regional
(2010-01-22)
DENVER, CO
(KUNC) -
Forest officials say ground zero of the western pine beetle outbreak now appears to be in Larimer County, Colo. According to new data released today by the US Forest Service, beetles have decimated more than 200,000 acres of forests there in the past year. In the entire Rocky Mountain region of the Forest Service, more than 3.5 million acres of mostly lodge pole pine trees have been killed. The area includes Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota.
Region director Rick Cables says Larimer County is hardest hit, because the beetles are making their way over the continental divide.
"The bark beetle continues to march on, and we're trying to deal with, the short term mitigation that we need to address the threats associated with it, and then try and set up a long term strategy for the forested area we're talking about," Cables says.
Those threats include serious risks to the health of the region's water supply. Forest managers do have some help coming from Washington. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently $40 million in federal money to address the beetle epidemic.
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