Fire Expert: 'We Won't Lose CO Forests For the Beetle-Killed Trees'
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Denver, CO – Colorado's mountain forests have been hit hard by the recent bark beetle epidemic, but with wildfire season just around the corner, Tom Fry, director of the fire program for the Wilderness Societym says big fires are natural and there's no need to try to "fire-proof" the forest. He says it's more important to devote limited resources to protecting people and property.
"The direct protection of life and property versus the fool's errand of trying to fire-proof the forest is where we need to focus."
Fry acknowledges that it can be hard for Colorado natives and visitors alike to watch the effects of the beetle epidemic on the forests.
"It can be heart-wrenching to see the woods turning from green to red to brown to gray, no question about that."
Fry says beetle-killed trees don't create more fuel for wildfires, and lodgepole pine fires naturally burn big and hot, bark beetles or not.
Fry says the beetles that have been killing the trees are native to the area, and not an infestation from somewhere else.
"Whether or not this particular epidemic is beyond the pale, the jury is still out."
Recent federal legislation authorized thinning of beetle-killed forest areas to prevent so-called "mega-fires." Some conservation groups have criticized that as a back-door excuse for increased logging public forests.
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