On our way to the Cataract Ridge trailhead, we couldn’t help but notice the forest around the Rio Grande Reservoir was, well, dead. The devastation was nearly complete, much like the forests to the north around Summit County and Winter Park, where Pine Beetles have made the entire forest brown with dead trees.
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The problem in the southern part of the state in the Rio Grande Forest turns out to be the Spruce Beetle. This insect attacks primarily Engelmann Spruce, though it will occasionally infest Blue Spruce as well. After the beetle does its damage, we’re left with a forest which isn’t just unsightly, but also a forest fire waiting to happen, and those trees eventually start falling down.
We’ve been incredibly lucky here in the Elks, dodging both beetle outbreaks… so far. Of course, the Aspen trees around here are dying, too- due to what is known as “Sudden Aspen Decline”, or SAD.
They say these phenomena are natural, occurring every century or two or three. The drought years we’ve experienced are certainly a likely trigger, as are warming temperatures. That doesn’t make the thought of stark hillsides with nothing but dead trees and sagebrush any more cheery. I guess it’s just one more reason to hope for a big winter this season.
