Colorado: Can we log our way to forest health?

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Still lots of dead trees around the Colorado high country.

Forest health task force session wants to answer that question

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — just a week after Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) asked Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to support more logging, the Summit County Forest Health Task Force will hold a roundtable to discuss barriers to forest health.

The meeting, which includes lunch, is from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Frisco Community Building, 110 Third Avenue South, Frisco (one block south of Main Street). Participants include: Lyle laverty, Cary Green, Matt Sugar, Bruce Ward, Howard Hallman, Brad Piehl and Sandy Briggs. Please RSVP by calling or emailing Howard Hallman at (719) 491-1807 or future1946@yahoo.com.

Udall last week urged Vilsack to support proactive forest management by utilizing the timber industry to reduce fuel loads in wildfire-prone areas and improve community safety throughout the West. Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), John Thune (R-S.D.) signed onto Udall’s letter. (more…)

Filed under: Colorado, Forest health, forests, pine beetles and wildfires, politics, Summit County Colorado, US Forest Service | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Summit County forest health group eyes statewide efforts

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Economic use of beetle-killed wood a high priority for forest experts

What to do with all this wood?

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Some key players from Colorado’s emerging  forest health and forest products field will discuss the latest info from a statewide perspective  during this week’s meeting of the Summit Forest Health Task Force roundtable (Aug. 11, 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the community center, 110 3d Ave. in Frisco).

State officials are making a concerted effort to try and spur the utilization of timber from beetle-killed forests. A recent U.S. Forest Service decision to revisit several timber contracts in the state could help breath new life into several mills that have been on the cusp of default — and that could speed up the removal and processing of timber from stricken forests. (more…)

Filed under: business, Colorado, Environment, Forest health, forests, Summit County Colorado, Summit County news | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Summit County: Forest Health Task Force partners with outdoor group to raise awareness of bark beetle impacts

Posted on May 11, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

May 12 meeting to focus on the role of outdoor industry and local service groups

Hikers are stakeholders in the forest health discussion. PHOTO BY DYLAN BERWYN.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — As a slow-moving ecological event, the bark beetle epidemic coursing through the Rocky Mountains has garnered plenty of attention from scientists and forest rangers, but has remained a bit under the radar of national publicity. But that may change, as a coalition of outdoor recreation interests works to increase national awareness.

Those efforts will be discussed at the May 12 meeting of the Summit Forest Health Task Force (7:30 – 9 a.m. at the Frisco Community Center, 3d Street). (more…)

Filed under: Colorado, Environment, Forest health, forests, Frisco, pine beetles, Summit County Colorado | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Summit County: Dead forest equals more runoff

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Bob Berwyn
Rainbow at Dillon Reservoir, Summit County Colorado

Dead lodgepole pines along the shore of Dillon Reservoir frame a summer rainbow.

Mid-winter flooding, high late-summer flows all signs of changing water regime

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — Widespread lodgepole pine mortality has increased both the abundance and timing of runoff in streams and irrigation ditches, Blue River water commissioner Scott Hummer said this week at a meeting of the Summit Forest Health Task Force.

His local observations reflect a recent Colorado State University study showing at least a short-term runoff increase, probably because there are hardly any live trees left to drink up the water. Other studies have been inconclusive, and some researcher speculate that, if there is any increase in runoff, it will be very short-lived, as other vegetation fills in the forest floor beneath the dead lodgepole overstory. (more…)

Filed under: Colorado, Environment, forest fires, Forest health, forests, global warming, pine beetles, pine beetles and wildfires, Summit County news, US Forest Service | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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