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FRISCO - It might be time for people to humble themselves and accept they can't control nature.
That's not necessarily the message the Mountain Pine Beetle Task Force wanted to hear first thing Tuesday morning, but guest speaker Sloan Shoemaker pressed his point nonetheless.
Sloan, the executive director of Wilderness Workshop - which protects and preserves wilderness areas - gave the task force another perspective on how to deal with the widespread death of lodgepole pines from beetle infestations. In fact, he said Summit County's forest doesn't have a health problem, so there's no reason to take action. Beetle outbreaks are part of a natural process, he said.
He warned against thinning the forest to control the pests, saying disturbing the ecosystem often damages the forest's ability to regenerate.
"Ecosystems are very resilient to change, but they need to have all of their parts intact," Shoemaker said. "Removing biomass and disturbing forest (growth) and bacteria can compromise a forest's resilience. We need to be very careful that we don't apply resources that are unproductive or counterproductive."
Rather than cut trees, he advocates focusing on the secondary problem: wildfires. The abundance of dead trees increases the risk of fires, so he urged the task force to educate homeowners about protecting their properties.
"It's really about private homeowners addressing the very real threats that they face and living in harmony to survive wildfires," he said. "We live in a fire-dependent ecosystem."
Forest fire research shows that ground fires do not cause the majority of homes to go up in flames. Often burning embers from big flames land on dry vegetation around homes or on wooden roofs and ignite. Homeowners can reduce risks of fire by installing flame-resistant shingles, thinning out trees and removing dead vegetation seasonally.
The standard "safe" zone around a home is 100-200 feet. However, most homes in Summit County don't even have a 30-foot home ignition zone, and in 10-15 years, wildfire risk will increase as the forest regenerates, said Patti Maguire, an officer with Summit County Wildfire Mitigation. Still, task force members focused on the death of trees themselves.
"Fire protection is secondary," said Ben Grove, a resident of Frisco Heights. "The pine beetle is the wildfire that's out of control. It will be five times bigger in two weeks."
Red lodgepoles, which quickly are becoming a predominant part of Summit County's landscape, could have a negative effect on tourism, members pointed out.
"It would be wonderful to let nature take its course, but I don't think we have that luxury," said Breckenridge Councilmember Bob French. "I don't expect to treat the whole forest, but the woodland, urban interface deserves what can be done."
Howard Hallman, president of Our Future Summit, pointed out the dissenting information experts have given the task force. Many support managing the forest through thinning. But Sloan discredited their information, warning the task force to "keep your skeptic radar on."
Carl Spaulding, who specializes in recycled wood products, disagreed with Shoemaker's information. He said the forest is unhealthy and warrants some harvesting. Logging slowed in the 1960s and stopped in the 1980s, which led to an overstocked, even-aged forest vulnerable to pine beetles, he said.
Despite disagreement on how much humans should manage forests, everyone agreed on one point: Summit County has limited resources to deal with the pine beetle problem. Summit County can't rely on federal money to deal with the beetle problem, said Sandy Briggs, executive director of the task force. He suggested the community take initiative and find ways to manage the dying lodgepole pines. Most members talked about managing small, targeted patches of the forest.
"You can throw a bunch of time, money, resources, sweat and blood toward the pine beetle outbreak and ultimately not deflect the trajectory of that process one iota," Sloan said.
Next Mountain Pine Beetle Task Force Meeting
7:30 a.m. Thursday, July 6 at the Best Western in Frisco. A representative from the Northern Colorado Bark Beetle Consortium will speak.
That's not necessarily the message the Mountain Pine Beetle Task Force wanted to hear first thing Tuesday morning, but guest speaker Sloan Shoemaker pressed his point nonetheless.
Sloan, the executive director of Wilderness Workshop - which protects and preserves wilderness areas - gave the task force another perspective on how to deal with the widespread death of lodgepole pines from beetle infestations. In fact, he said Summit County's forest doesn't have a health problem, so there's no reason to take action. Beetle outbreaks are part of a natural process, he said.
He warned against thinning the forest to control the pests, saying disturbing the ecosystem often damages the forest's ability to regenerate.
"Ecosystems are very resilient to change, but they need to have all of their parts intact," Shoemaker said. "Removing biomass and disturbing forest (growth) and bacteria can compromise a forest's resilience. We need to be very careful that we don't apply resources that are unproductive or counterproductive."
Rather than cut trees, he advocates focusing on the secondary problem: wildfires. The abundance of dead trees increases the risk of fires, so he urged the task force to educate homeowners about protecting their properties.
"It's really about private homeowners addressing the very real threats that they face and living in harmony to survive wildfires," he said. "We live in a fire-dependent ecosystem."
Forest fire research shows that ground fires do not cause the majority of homes to go up in flames. Often burning embers from big flames land on dry vegetation around homes or on wooden roofs and ignite. Homeowners can reduce risks of fire by installing flame-resistant shingles, thinning out trees and removing dead vegetation seasonally.
The standard "safe" zone around a home is 100-200 feet. However, most homes in Summit County don't even have a 30-foot home ignition zone, and in 10-15 years, wildfire risk will increase as the forest regenerates, said Patti Maguire, an officer with Summit County Wildfire Mitigation. Still, task force members focused on the death of trees themselves.
"Fire protection is secondary," said Ben Grove, a resident of Frisco Heights. "The pine beetle is the wildfire that's out of control. It will be five times bigger in two weeks."
Red lodgepoles, which quickly are becoming a predominant part of Summit County's landscape, could have a negative effect on tourism, members pointed out.
"It would be wonderful to let nature take its course, but I don't think we have that luxury," said Breckenridge Councilmember Bob French. "I don't expect to treat the whole forest, but the woodland, urban interface deserves what can be done."
Howard Hallman, president of Our Future Summit, pointed out the dissenting information experts have given the task force. Many support managing the forest through thinning. But Sloan discredited their information, warning the task force to "keep your skeptic radar on."
Carl Spaulding, who specializes in recycled wood products, disagreed with Shoemaker's information. He said the forest is unhealthy and warrants some harvesting. Logging slowed in the 1960s and stopped in the 1980s, which led to an overstocked, even-aged forest vulnerable to pine beetles, he said.
Despite disagreement on how much humans should manage forests, everyone agreed on one point: Summit County has limited resources to deal with the pine beetle problem. Summit County can't rely on federal money to deal with the beetle problem, said Sandy Briggs, executive director of the task force. He suggested the community take initiative and find ways to manage the dying lodgepole pines. Most members talked about managing small, targeted patches of the forest.
"You can throw a bunch of time, money, resources, sweat and blood toward the pine beetle outbreak and ultimately not deflect the trajectory of that process one iota," Sloan said.
Next Mountain Pine Beetle Task Force Meeting
7:30 a.m. Thursday, July 6 at the Best Western in Frisco. A representative from the Northern Colorado Bark Beetle Consortium will speak.
