Aug 16, 2006 8:50 am US/Mountain
Winter Park In Danger Of Turning Red
Pine Beetle Hitting Ski Resort's Trees Hard
by Paul Day
GRAND LAKE, Colo. (CBS4) ―
Winter Park Ski Resort has been working to slow the advance of the pine beetles through the popular mountain getaway. And while chainsaws, helicopters and pesticides are used to try and temporarily save trees, the experts know it will only be matter of time before the red and dead look that's consuming the rest of Grand County marks the ski area as well.
Winter Park said the best hope is a prolonged cold spell and freeze that could kill the pine beetles. The recent string of mild winters hasn't been able to slow the destructive insect as it eats through lodge pole pines.
The ski resort is one of many victims hit by the unprecedented and unstoppable pine beetle epidemic.
"It could be all turning orange here," Brendon Irving of Winter Park said. "The beetle would keep going until it got the last of its food source, the last possible tree. It could be a big change for us."
The pine beetles have only been targeting lodgepole pines. Winter Park does have many other types of trees the bug hasn't bothered.
Winter Park has spent more than $500,000 trying to slow the pine beetles' advance.
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