Beetle Kill News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Helena Open Lands Division will be removing beetle-kill trees from Mount Helena between Jan. 29 and Feb. 2.

Artificial intelligence developed at NCAR in Boulder is allowing scientists to identify the locations and amounts of dead or dying trees and vegetation in Colorado forests, which burn quickly and, therefore, cause wildfires to spread faster.

Credit Colorado State Forest Service A new USDA Forest Service and Colorado State Forest Service survey finds that spruce beetles continue to be the most damaging pest in Rocky Mountain forests. Survey manager Brian Howell said the mountain pine beetle outbreak peaked around 2010 and has run its course. But now they're seeing a similar problem with the spruce beetle. "We sort of have some fronts of activity, if you can think of the beetle marching at a far slower pace but not unlike a firefront, sort of moving through the forest," he said. "We've seen just kind of a continuation of that activ...

Credit NPS Photo / Jim Ecklund A new study finds that bark beetle infestations and wildfires may change the structure of forests. Colorado State University researcher Zoe Schapira measured and classified the components of subalpine forests in Colorado and Wyoming. She did this for healthy areas and forests that had been affected by bark beetles or burned by wildfires. Schapira said forests with trees killed by beetles or wildfires had a lot of dead trees on the ground. But she said there were also signs of trees regrowing, which tells scientists about the future of the forest. "We saw prett...

>> it is an example of not managing resources so he is correct in that. you have to then, prescribed burns. the left say there's only one variable and that is do-nothing, habitat, global warming, not global warming equals fires. the equation is more complex. you have fuel load, beetle kill, disease, warming temperatures. to fix this problem, look at prescribed burns in the shoulder season, accurately manage our forests. ed: something you have been pushing for far a long time. our hearts go out to everyone. ed: firefighters are doing a magnificent job. while the forest, their homes, their famil...