This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at cpr.org.
Gov. Jared Polis signed an executive order on Monday aimed at curbing a mountain pine beetle outbreak in ponderosa forests along the front range.
Polis said the infestation is in the beginning stages but will be visible along U.S Highway 285 and the I-70 corridor. He attributes the outbreak to drought, and a warming climate. He said he recently received a briefing and was shocked by the projections of how much the infestation is expected to spread.
“This means that most or nearly all mature Ponderosa pines will be killed by pine beetles in the western front range over the next several years,” Polis said.
He notes that people can still see the rust colored dead trees in mountain communities which faced the same pine beetle infestation years ago, but with lodgepole pines. He said he wants to make sure the impacted areas along the front range are prepared and all on the same page.
“That we're ready for what lies ahead with reducing forest fire risk, treating landscapes, reducing landslide risk and much more,” Polis said.
His executive order creates a task force to try to use the best science to coordinate a response with landowners, from counties and private individuals, to the state and federal government. He said in some ways this new outbreak will be more challenging to deal with than the lodgepole pine infestation, which occurred primarily on remote federal lands with fewer entities involved in coordinating a response. The latest beetle infestation is also much closer to the state’s population centers.
“It's absolutely critical that we have mitigation to take down affected trees quickly,” Polis said. “Especially near residential areas, creating defensive barriers.”
Polis said he is also concerned about the risk for wildfires, water quality, recreation, and the economy.
The only natural intervention that could slow the beetle outbreak is prolonged cold temperatures.
“Where we have several weeks where it's below zero. And that was more the norm every few years, 30, 40 years ago. We haven't seen one in a while,” Polis noted. “We've had cold days, cold patches, but not that sustained cold that would help limited infestation.”
Homeowners can do some things to protect ponderosa pines they want to save with preventative paint, but there’s currently no forest level treatment.
