Can the current mountain pine beetle epidemic in Colorado be stopped?
Low-level populations of mountain pine beetles usually attack individual or small groups of trees that have experienced disease, lightning strikes, or other stressors. Tree mortality might be limited to small areas of lodgepole or ponderosa pine forests that often go unnoticed, or large areas can be impacted. The combination of an abundance of susceptible forest stands (such as those with high tree densities, and large trees), suitable environmental conditions (such as a drought), and an increasing mountain pine beetle population can set the stage for the development of epidemics. Colorados current mountain pine beetle epidemic is the largest recorded in state history. When populations reach epidemic levels, direct control efforts are generally ineffective. Some efforts were made to control spruce beetle and mountain pine beetle outbreaks in Colorado in the 1940s and 1970s. But unfortunately, no success was documented. An effort to suppress a mountain pine beetle outbreak in Crater Lak
