Pikes Peak Region Trail Finder

By STEVEN K. PAULSON, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The U.S. Forest Service says budget cuts are forcing the federal government to limit its response to a bark beetle outbreak that has destroyed millions of acres of forests in the West, and scientists are trying to figure out what the forests will look like after the epidemic has run its course.

U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, who requested a yearlong study of the epidemic's impact on Colorado and Wyoming, said Thursday he plans to introduce new legislation in Congress next year to help federal agencies deal with the devastation.

Potential changes include emergency authority for the U.S. Forest Service to clear dead trees for a reasonable cost, reauthorization of the Good Neighbor Authority that allows the Colorado State Forest Service to work with the U.S. Forest Service on projects that cross federal-state boundaries, and permanent reauthorization of laws allowing the Forest Service to trade goods for services.

"As the mountain pine beetle epidemic continues to spread across our western forests, it's clear that we need to address the problem more intensely and effectively," Udall said.

Scientists are trying to determine what forests will look like after the epidemic has passed. Experts say if stands of dead trees are harvested, it is likely that lodgepole pine trees being killed by bark beetles will return. However, if there is no treatment, the forest may grow back with subalpine fir trees.

The report says while establishing experts are calling "the new forest," foresters should focus on more diversity of trees and mixing young and old trees in forests where thinning has been limited, leaving them susceptible to insects and disease.

The report warns that opportunities to achieve those goals will be limited to a small fraction of the infested land because of a lack of funds and limits on land use.

Until the changes are made, the Forest Service is placing a priority on protecting lives, communities and critical water supplies by removing dead trees from hazardous areas. The government has also provided grants to wood companies to find new uses for the dead wood.

Acting regional forester Jerome Thomas says the bark beetle epidemic has ravaged an estimated 41 million acres in the West, including 4 million acres of forests in Colorado and Wyoming.