I have heard about the extensive mortality inflicted on some of the pine forests in Colorado by the pine beetle, but I did not have a full appreciation for it until last weekend when I attended a Yamaha FJR 1300 motorcycle gathering in Boulder, Colorado. On Saturday I went for a ride through Rocky Mountain National Park and was stunned by the impacts. A few tracts of hundreds of acres each on my route had 100% mortality. I shot the video below in an area that had 30-50% mortality.
It is going to be very interesting when a fire burns through these areas. Some urban locations are affected as well, with some houses having several dead trees towering above them, creating a major problem for homeowners.
Here are articles on the subject by Newsweek, USA Today, and Colorado State University.
The video is 53 seconds long.
