I just finished 2 months backpacking in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming. I also backpacked the summer of 2007. I am amazed at the damage of the bark beetle in those two short years. And what is going to happen in two more years when all those dead trees start falling down? This is really an environmental crisis. Have any of you also observed this damage? It just makes me so sad.

We witnessed the destruction in the the Winds this summer. Last time I was there was 21 years ago. The devastation is disturbing,w hole mountainsides are affected.

Some people I met said global warming is to blame. (They thought the winters have been too mild and that it takes 10 or more days of 20 below to kill the larvae.)

Others said a fire would wipe out the beetles and the dead trees and let the range repopulate. But who wants that solution?

The cutting of dead trees around the trailheads and car camping areas is ugly also, but I can see the need.

The bark beetle is nothing new. It always has attacked mature and overmature trees. The Englemann Spruce bark beetle (similar bug) really devastated a lot of the forest in western Colorado in the late 1940's. The White River Plateau was especially hard-hit. I saw considerable devastation in the lodgepoles of the eastern Uinta Mountains in the late 1980's.

The difference is that there are now a LOT of mature and overmature lodgepole pine trees. Back in the pre-white-man days, the Indians in the Rockies used to burn the lodgepole pine forest regularly. The normal post-fire succession in that area is aspen (much more favorable to wild game, because they browse on it in winter) and then lodgepole. This practice prevented the proliferation of mature and post-mature trees which are so susceptible to the bark beetle.

It may be that warmer winters contribute, but they are not the only factor.

The devastation is far worse in northern Colorado!

The dead trees are already falling. I had a rather scary moment between Green River Lakes and Beaver Park when a big gust of wind hit and trees were falling right and left around me. It's also almost impossible to find a legal campsite (200 feet from trails and water) that is not under a dead tree!

I suspect (but no scientific data to back this up) that the beetles will become less prevalent after the mature and over-mature trees have died off. Young trees seem more resistant to the beetle. I would also suspect that aspen will grow in once the big trees are gone. However, the area will be devastated for years!

I believe that a fire in the early summer while the beetles are still in the larval stage in the trees would be a big help! Lodgepole pine needs fire to pop the cones and release the seeds.

Here in south west Oregon we've seen a lot of beetle kill in ponderosa pine. It seems to be mostly a result of drought stress. We're running about 30% behind normal rainfall and the dry season is much longer than the norm.

I haven't seen much of this in the California Sierra, but northward it's evidently vast (35 million acres in B.C.).

Climate-fire cycle

One thing I've noticed quite a bit in the Sierra the last couple years is dying stands of mountain hemlock. This appears to be a consequence of lessening snowfall and overall hotter, drier conditions that favor other species, such as lodgpole (which appear healthy in the same areas the hemlocks are dying).

Longtime backpackers and woodsmen/women all seem to report changes observable in our lifetimes in the western mountains. In short, the various climatic zones seem to be creeping upslope, directly affecting plant and animal life.

I'm confused as to which species of tress are affected. OregonMouse says the Lodgepole Pine, but I have read it's the White Pine. Then I also read there is a Spruce Beetle that's invading the Boreal Forest.

Anyone have the scoop?

Depends on the area. in the north we have pine beetle attacking lodgepole (and other) pine. it's different in other places.