Breck concedes loss in beetle fight

BRECKENRIDGE — The Breckenridge mountain-pine beetle program’s emphasis has turned from removal to replanting.

“We have lost this fight,” Mayor Pro-tem Eric Mamula said at this week’s town work session.

Property owners still will be required to remove dead and dying trees but will no longer be reimbursed; instead, the town plans to pay for a portion of planting new trees.

And town officials are considering requiring property owners to clear all trees — even healthy ones — from within 15 feet of homes as a buffer against wildfires.

Breckenridge will likely lose 95 percent of its lodgepole pines, according to a memo from staff to council.

The program started in 2004 to prevent the spread of beetle kill through town by removing and chipping infected trees.

It surpassed budget in 2006 and 2007, and likely would do so again if continued into the fall.

Town manager Tim Gagen said reimbursement for removal will cease July 1.
The town will continue to reimburse landowners for trees removed before the end of the program if they submit their receipts by Aug. 31.

Any finances remaining in the $620,000 removal budget will be used to help with replanting, for which $40,000 already has been allotted.

Property owners may be reimbursed — on a sliding scale — for a percentage of trees they’ve planted. They may receive a 20-percent rebate for planting 11 or more trees. Plans call for a maximum rebate of $200 per property.

Eligible trees must meet minimum criteria: Deciduous trees must be at least 1-1/2 inches thick, and evergreens must be at least 4 feet tall.

Town officials also recommend that they be harvested from an elevation near that at which they’ll be planted. Aspen, spruce and fir trees tend to fare well locally.
Replanting will be voluntary, unlike the mandatory removal requirement that had no set limit on reimbursement.

The $40 per tree reimbursements were responsible for the program greatly exceeding budget in recent years.

In 2007, the town budgeted $200,000 and spent $508,000.

Officials have expressed concern that much of this compensation goes to wealthy landowners who own many trees.

Casey Snyder, co-owner of Alpine Tree Services, said the average beetle-infested tree in the Highlands at Breckenridge costs about $80 to remove.

Town inspections earlier this year identified more than 15,000 infested trees in the Highlands alone.

Defensible space

Town council members also expressed support this week for staff’s request to re-focus the pine-beetle ordinance toward defensible space.

Though removal will continue to be mandatory, this change would require property owners to focus on all dead and infested trees within 75 feet of structures.
Trees — or tree canopies — within a 15-foot envelope could be required for removal regardless of infection.

“Even some healthy trees, lodgepole or not, could be removed,” Gagen said.
Town spokeswoman Kim DiLallo said such requirements within the 15-foot envelopes would vary case-by-case. Interns and perhaps a forester will work with property owners.

The fire district has offered to split the cost of a forester with the town.

Red, White and Blue Fire Department Chief Gary Green said he supports the change.
“The modification toward defensible space is absolutely going to save homes,” he said.

Mamula said property owners have a responsibility to remove trees in the envelope, as firefighters would be risking their lives to save the homes in a wildfire.

“People need to step up and do the right thing,” he said.

An ordinance requiring inspections and holding property owners responsible for removals was approved last year. But staff has had trouble with enforcement, in part because of the small window between snow melt and beetle flight.

Council gave staff the go-ahead Tuesday to work with the town attorney to enforce the requirement for tree removal.

DiLallo said staff expect to have the replanting program ready for launch in the next few weeks.

“We need to make some more tweaks before we put it out in final form,” she said, adding that fall is the best season for planting trees.

Town staff proposed a $500,000 budget for the 2009 pine-beetle program, which includes $70,000 for a forester and interns, and $370,000 for reforesting and replanting.

The town budgeted $750,000 for 2008 and has spent more than $90,000 to date. Gagen said he expects “quite a few more” reimbursements before the deadline.
For more information on the program, visit the town website at www.townofbreckenridge.com.

Robert Allen can be contacted at (970) 668-4628 or rallen@summitdaily.com.