Beetles aren't killing needles in the Pikes Peak area

Don't panic.

That's the message from forest experts, as some people in the Pikes Peak region are apparently mistaking the annual dying of pine needles for an invasion of the dreaded mountain pine beetles.

The beetles have ravaged 1.5 million acres of Colorado's lodgepole pine forest in recent years, transforming some of the state's most popular tourist destinations and areas around ski resorts into stands of dead trees. The beetles have not breached this area in large numbers, and experts don't know if they will wreak similar havoc on the lower-elevation ponderosa pine forests of the Front Range.

But a lot of people are worried about it, as evidenced by the calls the Colorado State Forest Service office in Woodland Park has received in recent days.

"Many people are somewhat in disbelief when I tell them that the yellow, dying needles are a function of the normal needlecast that happens every fall," said Andy Pascarella, the agency's assistant district forester in Woodland Park, in a news release issued last week. "But people tend to notice more variations in the appearances of their trees when they are concerned about a particular insect or pest."

Many types of evergreens shed needles in the fall, and it is more pronounced in dry years like this one, officials said. The needles closest to the trunk turn yellow, then red-brown, and then drop.

When a tree is beetle-infested, the entire tree will turn an "off-shade of green," or needles will turn brown at the bottom of the tree and spread upwards. There will also be cinnamon-colored sawdust at the base of the tree.

Mountain pine beetles occur naturally in Colorado's mountains, and there are a few pockets of beetle-infested trees along U.S. Highway 24 east of Woodland Park.

But aerial surveys performed this summer by the U.S. Forest Service showed no signs the beetles have crossed from the lodgepoles into the ponderosa pines here, said agency entomologist Bob Kane.

Colorado Springs city forester Paul Smith said he saw no signs of infestation in city trees and parks this summer.

It's a different story to the north and west, where the beetles spread southwest from Summit County into the Leadville area, and as far south as Kenosha Pass on U.S. Highway 285.

North of Interstate 70, the beetles are moving eastward and showing an appetite for ponderosa pines, at least in forests where they are mixed with lodgepoles, Kane said.

Because they don't grow as densely as lodgepoles, experts don't know if the beetle kill will become as severe in ponderosa pines.

If people are concerned about discoloration in their tree is from beetles, they should take samples of damaged needles and pictures of the tree to a forest insect expert, such as the state forest service, the local Colorado State University Extension office or a private tree service.