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SUMMIT COUNTY - The next wave of the mountain pine beetle infestation is about to wash over local lodgepole pine forests, as pioneer beetles have started to fly from infested trees to find new homes.
The peak flight time, when the bugs will migrate en masse, is expected in late July and early August, and that means it's not too late for property owners to protectively spray high-value trees, according to Sandy Briggs of Summit's Mountain Pine Beetle Task Force.
According to Briggs, tree service companies have reported flights of "pioneer" pine beetles in the Lower Blue, around Pebble Creek Ranch and Blue Ridge Road, as well as near Summit Estates, near Breckenridge.
The first few beetles to fly each season scout out new uninfecsted trees to be colonized by the next generation of beetles. The pioneer bugs then emit a chemical signal that alerts the larger flight of beetles as to the location of potential breeding locations. Older lodgepoles near the end of the natural lifespan are the preferred targets, but with the proliferation of the beetle population during the current epidemic, the insects have even started to use younger trees as breeding sites.
Infestation by pine beetles is almost always fatal to host trees as the bugs cut of the flow of nutrients to the branches. U.S. Forest Service experts have estimated between half and 90 percent of Summit County's lodgepole pines could succumb to the pine beetles during the next few years.
The pine beetle task force also reports that workers have found a different species of bark beetle, the Ips pini, in an area of blown-down trees near the County Commons, but the Ips beetle rarely attacks healthy trees.
Bob Berwyn can be reached at (970) 331-5996, or at bberwyn@summitdaily.com.
Task Force meeting
The pine beetle task force will update its website (www.summitpinebeetle.org) with information on beetle activity throughout the season. The task force will meet at 7:30 a.m. on July 20. At the Best Western Lake Dillon Lodge in Frisco to get an update on news from the political front after last week's Washington, D.C. Meeting, when Colorado's congressional delegation agreed to draft a unified pine bill to address the spreading pine beetle epidemic. For more information on the task force, call (970) 468-7875.
The peak flight time, when the bugs will migrate en masse, is expected in late July and early August, and that means it's not too late for property owners to protectively spray high-value trees, according to Sandy Briggs of Summit's Mountain Pine Beetle Task Force.
According to Briggs, tree service companies have reported flights of "pioneer" pine beetles in the Lower Blue, around Pebble Creek Ranch and Blue Ridge Road, as well as near Summit Estates, near Breckenridge.
The first few beetles to fly each season scout out new uninfecsted trees to be colonized by the next generation of beetles. The pioneer bugs then emit a chemical signal that alerts the larger flight of beetles as to the location of potential breeding locations. Older lodgepoles near the end of the natural lifespan are the preferred targets, but with the proliferation of the beetle population during the current epidemic, the insects have even started to use younger trees as breeding sites.
Infestation by pine beetles is almost always fatal to host trees as the bugs cut of the flow of nutrients to the branches. U.S. Forest Service experts have estimated between half and 90 percent of Summit County's lodgepole pines could succumb to the pine beetles during the next few years.
The pine beetle task force also reports that workers have found a different species of bark beetle, the Ips pini, in an area of blown-down trees near the County Commons, but the Ips beetle rarely attacks healthy trees.
Bob Berwyn can be reached at (970) 331-5996, or at bberwyn@summitdaily.com.
Task Force meeting
The pine beetle task force will update its website (www.summitpinebeetle.org) with information on beetle activity throughout the season. The task force will meet at 7:30 a.m. on July 20. At the Best Western Lake Dillon Lodge in Frisco to get an update on news from the political front after last week's Washington, D.C. Meeting, when Colorado's congressional delegation agreed to draft a unified pine bill to address the spreading pine beetle epidemic. For more information on the task force, call (970) 468-7875.
