Colorado Water
The prolonged Colorado drought has taken it's toll on the Pinion Pine population in the state, according to the Rocky Mountain News [July 12, 2004, "Beetles prey on pines"]. Beetles are killing the drought weakened trees in record numbers. From the article, "In 2002, the piñon ips beetle began 'taking advantage of ideal conditions created by long-term drought and overly dense piñon-juniper landscapes' in Colorado, according to the latest annual report issued by the Colorado State Forest Service. The same year, wildfires burned more than 600,000 acres in the state, and various beetles devoured trees. Subalpine fir, spruce, Douglas fir, lodgepole pine, ponderosa pine and piñon pine all were hit hard. Last year, mortality caused by mountain pine beetles leveled off for the first time since the epidemic began in the early 1990s, according to the January 2004 state report. Still, there are trouble spots. Andy Cadenhead, a U.S. Forest Service forester, said that in the next few years, beetles could kill 75 percent to 90 percent of pine and spruce trees throughout Routt County. Most of the county's forests are old and dense, and a 1997 freak windstorm that killed millions of trees in the Routt National Forest created a prime breeding ground for the insects. Spruce and mountain pine beetles are always present in forests, but conditions in Routt County are such that beetle populations could explode, Cadenhead said."
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