Bark Beetles and

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Bark Beetles and Management
Opportunities by Clint Kyhl Bark Beetle
Incident Commander US Forest Service
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Agenda

• Bark Beetle History Biology
• Bark Beetle Current Condition
• Aerial Detection Flights
• FS Response
• Action Plan
• Strategy for the future

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Bark Beetles in the West

• Widespread outbreaks across the west
• From piñon-juniper woodlands to spruce-fir
  forests
• Native insects in natural habitats

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Mountian Pine Beetle

• Dendroctonus ponderosae
• ¼ inch long
• Can be thousands in a single tree
• feed on pine trees (lodgepole, limber, ponderosa)

USDA Forest Service - Region 4 Archives, USDA
Forest Service, www.forestryimages.org
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Bark Beetle Biology
Slide Courtesy of Tom Eager
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Pitch tubes
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Mountain pine beetle gallery gt
Ips spp. gallery
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Blue stain fungi block water conducting tissues
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Bark Beetle Population
Weather Conditions
Stand Conditions
The Perfect Storm
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Lodgepole pine stands susceptibility increases
when

• Trees are gt 8 inches diameter
• Stand is older than 80 years
• Elevation is conducive to beetle survival
• Basal Area exceeds 120 sq. ft. acre.
• Surrounding stands have mountain pine beetles

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Historic and Current Age Distributions of
Lodgepole Pine Stands in the Western U.S.
Ferry et al. 1995. Altered fire regimes in
fire-adapted ecosystems.
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Current Conditionof the Bark Beetle Epidemic
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Aerial Surveys
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2005 Aerial Survey
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Medicine Bow NF 2006 Flight

• Medicine Bow National Forest
• Tree mortality increased from 2005 levels.
• Lodgepole pine mortality due to mountain pine
  beetle was the most damaging forest agent
  observed during the 2006 survey. Some of the
  larger infestations occurred near the
  Wyoming/Colorado border. Mountain pine beetle
  killed roughly 780,000 lodgepole pine trees over
  an area of 75,000 acres on the Medicine Bow
  National Forest (111,000 acres in the State).
• In southern Wyoming, spruce beetle populations
  were at epidemic levels along the main drainages
  of North Platte Creek and Savage Run Creek. Much
  of this spruce mortality occurs within mixed
  lodgepole pine forests decimated by mountain pine
  beetle. Spruce beetle is also rampant along the
  Roaring Fork of the Little Snake River and the
  West Branch of the Little Snake River. Within
  the Snowy Range and Sierra Madre Ranges, spruce
  beetle killed 126,000 trees over 37,000 acres
  (62,800 acres in the State).
• Subalpine fir mortality, most often caused by
  western balsam bark beetle, was recorded in large
  numbers on the Medicine Bow National Forest.
  Subalpine fir decline affected 44,000 acres
  killing over 200,000 trees (101,900 acres in the
  State).

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Beetle Activity
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Data not Available
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Potential Bark Beetle on Med Bow?(350,000 ac LP,
150,000 ac ES)
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Mountain Pine Beetle Outbreak Implications

• Dramatically changes stand structure
• Increased forage benefits ungulates
• Increased food source for woodpeckers
• Negative impacts on mature forest species

Three-toed Woodpecker
http//huskertsd.tripod.com/species/three_toed_woo
dpecker.htm, Photographs by Doug Backlund
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Changed fuel conditions may impact fire
intensity. Could reduce crown fire spread while
increasing surface fire intensity.... Snags
increase spotting and danger to firefighters.
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Hypothesized trends in risk of severe fire
following severe bark beetle outbreak in a
single-story lodgepole pine forest. -- Tinker,
Simard, Turner, Romme
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Managing Mountain Pine Beetle impacts

• Where acceptable, use clearcutting or salvage
  prescriptions to create a more diverse age
  distribution of even aged lodgepole pine stands
  across the landscape.
• Where it is acceptable and safe to do so, allow
  stand replacing fires to burn. This will help
  create a mosaic of age classes across the
  landscape.
• Remove hazard trees along roadways, campgrounds,
  trails, etc..
• Preventive spraying of high value landscape trees
  
• Sanitation and thinning when outbreaks are
  starting
• Thin stands before a bark beetle outbreak
  occurs

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Basal Area The Density Factor
Mountain Pine Beetle -increased risk above 120
sq. ft./ac has been documented for ponderosa pine
in the Black Hills and inferred for lodgepole
pine.
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Unmanaged stands partially cut to BAs of 80
100 sq.ft per acre in a single cut have had less
impact from mountain pine beetle. Partially
cutting an unmanaged lodgepole pine stand to a BA
40 sq. ft. per acre in a single cut usually
results in a windthrown stand and, therefore, is
not recommended.
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Ideally, partial cutting is done before mountain
pine beetle outbreaks occur. There was evidence
that partial cutting during the early phase of an
outbreak could help protect individual stands,
but this has not held up under the extreme bark
beetle epidemic.
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What is the Forest Service doing?

• Incident Management Team
• Regional shift of funding to Bark Beetle Forests
  (White River, Arapaho/Roosevelt, Medicine Bow and
  Routt NFs). Increase in treatment acres.
• Collaborative Groups formed (Front Range
  Partnership, Colorado Bark Beetle Cooperative,
  etc).
• State Legislation
• Delegation support
• Action Plans and Strategies developed

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Action Plan

• Three general areas of focus
• Vegetation and Fuels Management
• Infrastructure (ie. campgrounds, powerlines)
• Next Forest
• Ways to streamline processes
• Be more efficient (HFRA, Stewardship
  Contracts/Agreements, etc..)
• Treat more acres with limited budgets

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New FS Strategy - Factors

• Trees lose sawtimber value in 3-5 yrs
• Large number of projects through NEPA
• Timber Industry not at capacity
• Stimulate new industry
• Lots of wood biomass available for the long-term
• Environmental concerns
• Forest Health
• Public Health Safety
• Recreation Tourism
• Economic Development

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New FS Surge Strategy

• Increase FY08 volume offer from existing approved
  NEPA projects to capture sawtimber volume before
  it goes bad
• In the short-term, utilize regular timber sale
  contracts or Stewardship Contracts (5gt yrs)
• In the long-term, look for opportunities for
  Stewardship Contracts (5 yrs) for biomass
  utilization (ie. large area analysis, roadside
  hazard trees, etc)

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New Surge Strategy (cont.)

• Utilize Stewardship Contracting to accomplish
  needed treatments on the ground (ie. fuel
  reduction near communities, close roads, etc)
• Increase all projects that protect Infrastructure
  (ie. roads, campgrounds, powerlines, etc).
  Including spraying around high valued facilities.

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Tools / Final Thoughts

• Stewardship Contracts / Agreements
• Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HFRA)
• Large Analysis Areas
• Timber Sale Prep Efficiencies (Designation by
  description, comparative cruising, weight
  scaling, etc..)
• Best Available Science
• Adaptive Management
• Collaboration is key!

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Questions?ckyhl_at_fs.fed.usThe web address
is http//www.fs.fed.us/r2/bark-beetle.