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Pine Beetles Move Into Northern Colorado Cities

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Sep 24, 2008 8:58 pm US/Mountain

Pine Beetles Move Into Northern Colorado Cities

Reporting
Mike Hooker
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4/AP) ― Mountain pine beetles continue to make inroads in cities along the northern Front Range, with infestations reported Tuesday in Berthoud, Boulder, Greeley, Loveland and Windsor.

Earlier this month, the beetles were reported in pine trees in Fort Collins. The beetles have also been found in pine trees in Cheyenne, Wyo.

The city forester in Fort Collins, Tim Buchanan, says there are more than 100 trees in town which the beetles have attacked -- mostly Scotch pines. But he doesn't want people to panic about their trees.

"Just that you see a lot of the pitch tubes on the tree doesn't mean that the tree has lost the battle," Buchanan said. "In fact a lot of our tests show that a lot of these trees are winning the battle and are going to be fine."

Experts believe the tiny insects may have been carried east by a combination of strong winds and firewood from infected trees.

Ingrid Aguayo of the Colorado Forest Service said the infestation isn't expected to spread across cities the way it has across parts of the mountains. The beetles burrow under tree bark and have killed about 1.5 million acres of pine trees in the high country, where the rust-colored infected trees seem to outnumber healthy ones on some mountainsides.

Aguayo said the beetle attacks only pine trees, and cities have many other kinds of trees. Pine trees in populated areas tend to get more water and are better able to fight off beetle infestations, she said.

"It's not going to be the red sea that we see in the forest," Aguayo said.

Additional Information 

Below are links for more information on the pine beetle:



(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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