Fewer beetles may not mean fewer concerns

From American Forests:

 

Once the numbers came in from the U.S. Forest Service’s annual aerial survey last month, people started to feel hopeful: The mountain pine beetle was declining in Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota. In fact, the beetle infected fewer acres in Colorado in 2013 than in any year since 1998.

 

Through our Endangered Western Forests initiative, American Forests has been working to stem the tide of the mountain pine beetle. This native beetle has been causing as much damage in the past few decades as a runaway invasive. Cold Rocky Mountain winters that would normally help control their population have been getting warmer, allowing these pests to live longer, reproduce more and climb into higher elevations.

 

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