Mountain pine beetle is a big problem in our forested areas in The Retreat.
Less than 10 years ago, in 1996, only 13,000 trees were infested with the
beetles. In 2004, county officials reported more than 1.2 million trees were
suffering. In Grand County, on the Western Slope, the problem is much worse,
where up to 85 percent of trees are infected. That's less than 20 miles as the
crow flies from the Retreat.
It is a pest of ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine and limber pine. When trees are
stressed by drought and disease, they are more susceptible to mountain pine
beetle. These beetles have a one-year life cycle. The beetles leave dying trees
in July to September (mostly in August) and fly to nearby trees. If the insects
successfully bore into the tree, the tree is doomed even though it may not show
it right away. Dead trees will affect property values, and a lot depends on
private landowners.
The little beetles kill trees slowly, making a home inside first and then
robbing the tree of all its vital nourishment. They usually enter the tree in
late July or early August, carve out a little gallery to live in, and then lay
eggs. The eggs hatch in late fall, and the baby beetles start to eat away at the
tree. The tree will stay green through the winter, but when the next spring
hits, it's as good as dead. The only way to stop the spread of the mountain pine
beetles is to cut down and destroy infected trees.
The beetles leave behind a blue stain fungus, a telltale sign a tree is
infected. The fungus can only be seen by pulling away the tree's bark. They also
leave pitch holes where sap has leaked out of the tree. These are usually pink
or reddish on infected trees. Once one tree is infected, trees in the nearby
vicinity are doomed if something isn't done quickly.
If you identify a tree that has been successfully attacked, the tree must be cut
down and the dead wood treated to destroy the beetles. This can be done anytime
during the spring as long as the cutting is completed by June.
Although we would like to save all of our trees, it is impractical to spray all
of them. Important trees may be sprayed with an appropriate insecticide before
the beetles start flying in July.
Pitch tubes help to identify trees that have been attacked. Some trees can be
identified in winter by presence of pitch tubes.
KEEP AN EYE OUT. Look for pink or reddish popcorn-shaped mass on the outside of bark. This is a pitch hole. If you see this, peel away some of the bark and look for a blue stain. These are telltale signs your ponderosa pine is infected.
Tiger moth larvae are very noticeable right now. The larvae build silken nests in the tops of trees, primarily evergreens. There is usually only one nest per tree and the larvae cause local defoliation of the top leaves or needles but the health of the tree is not affected. If the nests can be easily reached, the caterpillars can be destroyed. This is a cyclical pest. The last large infestation was in 1997.
IPS beetles are another bark beetle that may damage our pine and spruce
trees. They attack pines that are stressed. They may also nest in downed trees
or slash. Another variety of IPS attacks spruce.
Click here for info from CSU on IPS beetle.
IPS beetles breed in freshly cut wood and attacks of these beetles are usually
confined to logs, logging residues or firewood. When populations of these
beetles become very large, the beetles may attack living trees. Many severely
drought-stressed trees and an abundance of freshly cut wood have caused a large
population of these beetles. When the IPS beetle larvae tunnel into a tree,
parts of the tree "fade" (discolor) and die. IPS beetles have many generations
per year and repeated attacks on the same tree can result in death of the tree.
It is important to remove downed trees, slash and firewood from the vicinity of
living trees.
Please do your part in removing trees that are infected by beetles or
mistletoe. There are tree service professionals in Estes Park who are proficient
in this area. If you have a neighbor whose trees are infected and risks your
property, the first step is to contact them directly. Alternatively, you can
contact any board member.
List of Local Tree Removal
Services
Colorado Forestry
Contractors 2011
Just how much of a problem is wildfire in Larimer County? Larimer County was ranked as the most hazardous county for wildfire in Colorado in a recent study. The potential for wildfires to burn structures and threaten lives in Larimer County will only continue to grow as more and more people move to the mountains.
The Retreat is at risk. We are one of the areas designated as red on the map.
We are located in a wildland/urban interface area. This is one where the homes
blend together with the wildlands. The addition of homes near wildlands
interrupts the natural cycle of wildfires
Historically, fires in Ponderosa pine forest have been fast-moving ground level
grass fires of low intensity. These types of fires occurred about every 20
years. fueled only by grasses, the fire never reached the crowns of the trees.
Many years of fire intervention has resulted in increased fuels, not only in the
actual increase in numbers of trees but also in the increase of "ladder" fuels.
Ladder fuels are branches or shrubs between 18 inches and 6 feet high. Ladder
fuels help convert a ground fire to a crown fire (treetops) which moves much
more quickly and burns with more intensity. When you add homes to the mix, the
fire becomes more intense and more dangerous.
While many things such as sloping lots, availability of water and winds over
30 miles per hour are out of our control, there are some measures that
homeowners in The Retreat can take to lessen the chance of home loss due to
wildfire. These include:
• Visible addresses - visible at night and in heavy smoke and non-combustible
• Access - driveways should be at least 12 feet wide and have 13 feet of
vertical clearance
• Have a plan ready in advance. Know how to turn electricity and propane off.
Have fire extinguishers and make sure all members of the family know how to use
them. put together an emergency kit and keep it where it is readily available.
Plan how you will contact members of the family and where you will meet.
• Keep your insurance up to date and make sure you have adequate coverage.
One thing that can be done to help keep your home from burning is to create a
defensible space around your home.
This is an area around your home and structures where the vegetation is
modified and maintained to slow the rate and intensity of an advancing wildfire.
1) Thinning out continuous tree and brush cover around structures.
• The first 15 feet around a home should be free of all flammable vegetation.
• For 75-150 feet beyond the first 15 feet, tree crowns should not be touching.
The actual distance depends upon the slope. The more slope, the more distance
from the house
• Clumps of 2 or 3 trees are okay if open area surrounds them.
• Trim ranches that extend over eaves of roofs. Remove branches within 15 feet
of a chimney
2) Prune branches from all trees within the defensible space
• Remove lower branches 6-8 feet off the ground on any trees remaining within
the defensible space of 75-150 feet from the structure.
• Remove shrubs and small trees or other potential ladder fuels from under large
trees
3) Remove dead matter and other ground litter within the defensible space
4) Maintain the defensible space annually
• Remove any debris that accumulates during the year
• Stack firewood uphill or on a contour and at least 15 feet from your home
• Maintain a greenbelt immediately around you home using grass, flower gardens,
or Firewise shrubbery. An alterative is rock or other noncombustible material
• mow dry grass and weeds to a height of 6 inches or less for a distance of 30
feet.
• clean roof and gutter of pine needles and leaves.
Remember that you must notify the ACC before you remove any living tree.
By taking steps to make your home firewise, you are giving your home a chance to
survive while the firefighters work to bring the fire under control. Remember a
fire department's effectiveness in fighting a wildfire starts with YOU.
Wildfire specialists are warning us to be vigilant this year. The wet weather
this spring has brought succulent undergrowth that dries out in the summer.
Since many wildfires start and spread in this dry undergrowth, it is necessary
to clear the undergrowth away from our homes.
We have many noxious weeds growing this season. It is important to get an early start on control. Larimer County Weed District will help individual homeowners with on-site inspections and consultations. They have native seed and herbicide for sale and sprayers and GPS units for loan. Call 498-5779 for information.
The following provides information on how to avoid damaging streams and
addresses some of the specific concerns found in the Retreat watershed. We put a
lot of effort into managing the surrounding forest and controlling insect
infestation. We even stock the streams with trout. But we are probably not as
aware as we should be of what the streams need.
It's important to understand a few basic principles of stream dynamics and fish
habitat. The streams in the Retreat have, over thousands of years, gradually
developed a "dynamic equilibrium" between climate, geology, geography and
vegetation. Streams serve to carry not only the runoff from rain and melting
snow, but also the material naturally eroded from the mountains in the form of
silt, sand and gravel. The bank vegetation keeps the channel confined to a
certain width while boulders and rock outcrops form pools and define the
character of the stream. There is a delicate balance between the size and shape
of the channel, the rain and snowmelt runoff and the sediment load that is
easily disturbed by human intervention or by catastrophic events such as floods
and fire.
Local small creeks usually contain brook trout which, while not a native species
to this area, have adapted quite nicely to streams such as Miller Fork. They
take advantage of the willowshaded pools for cover and the gravel beds below
the pools to spawn. The caddisfly and mayfly larvae, found on the bottom side of
cobbles, provide an excellent food source.
The dynamic equilibrium of a stream system can be disturbed by a number of
factors such as increased flow when soils are compacted and the rain runs off
faster, soil erosion and increased sediment from roads or development and from
dams or flood events. When the equilibrium is disturbed, the channel attempts to
make adjustments to the new sediment load or energy supply. A stream needs to be
able to move a certain amount of sediment through its system to stay healthy.
Since the Big Thompson flood of July 31, 1976, streams in the Retreat have been
making these adjustments. Black Creek underwent a major overhaul when it was
completely scoured out. Miller Fork is more subtle, with bank erosion and
eroding tributaries from the adjacent hillsides. However, both streams now carry
sediment loads much, much higher than were found prior to the flood. These
conditions make both Black Creek and Miller Fork especially sensitive to any
activity we impose on them.
Most of us have enjoyed playing in streams on summer days, building small dams
with the rocks in hopes of creating pools that would be attractive as homes to
brook trout. Many such rock dams, and some built with wood or plastic, exist all
along the creeks in the Retreat. Their adverse impacts to pools and trout
spawning beds develop gradually, and are generally unnoticed on a day-ta-day or
year-to-year basis, but are very evident.
Unfortunately, our well-intentioned efforts to build dams for fishery
enhancement harm the very streams that we seek to enjoy. Any sort of dam in a
stream slows the water just upstream of it. The sands and gravel that normally
bounce along the bed of the stream along their way down the mountain ("bedload")
drop out and fill the pool formed behind the dam. Over time the pool becomes
shallower until there is no pool, only a wide, shallow streambed. The stream
will eventually wash out around the dam, erode the bank and create an even worse
problem (the demise of many observed "fishery improvements" built by public
agencies on our public lands). When the washout happens, the stream scours down
through the bank to its old elevation and all of the silt, sand and gravel
collected behind the dam wash downstream and overwhelm the stream. As a result,
fish spawning beds are smothered and the homes of the insect population (fish
food) are covered.
Here is an observation to make. When you look at a stream, where do you find
pools and deep holes? Are they above the boulders or below? They form below the
boulders! Pools never naturally form above any sort of dam. The bedload
materials quickly drop out of the flow upstream of a dam and fill in the pool.
If we wish to enhance the fishery, the pools must be created below any
structures set in the stream. Pools form below the sudden drops in the streambed
where high velocity water rushing over or between the boulders keeps pools
scoured clean of sand and gravel. These holes provide wonderful hiding places
for brook trout. Just downstream of the holes the water slows to form sand and
gravel bars where brook trout like to spawn.
What can we do? First, you can take special care to make sure that bare gravel
driveways, roads and construction sites do not drain directly into the stream
but instead into some sort of vegetated buffer strip to filter out the sediment
before runoff reaches the streams. Second, look for barren or eroding stream
banks and get some willows growing in those places. The Bureau of Land
Management puts out an excellent publication on starting willows by simply
sticking cuttings into the ground (cheap and easy). And finally, pools and fish
habitat can be enhanced in the Retreat with carefully designed boulder and log
placements and revegetation along the banks, especially over sections where fish
like to hang out and wait for food.
For some reason we like the stream banks to look like golf course greens. Nice
and open and clean looking. However, the streams need woody vegetation to keep
the banks from washing away - and eroding your land. The brook trout prefer
feeding in water that has overhead cover such as willows. So don't cut down the
plants in order to get a better view of the stream.
Fishery enhancement is a wonderful thing to do if it's done properly. If you
have built dams in the streams, remove them and let the stream move the sediment
on through as it needs to. If you would like to develop some pools, there are
ways to do it. But it must be done properly. Most activities on streams in the
Retreat would be covered under the Clean Water Act and require a permit from the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Steve Belz' family has had a cabin on Streamside Drive since 1975. Steve
received his degree in hydrology from Colorado State University and has his own
consulting business in Northglenn, CO. While in high school he was inspired by
the Big Thompson flood to study rivers and hydrology. His experience with
streams has come from several years of employment with the U.S. Forest Service
starting in 1983 and as a consultant to the Forest Service and private
individuals on many projects. His professional river study work, stream
restoration activities and love of streams has covered much of the Colorado
Front Range and the San Juan River in southern Colorado as well as the Black
Hills National Forest in northeastern Wyoming and projects in Illinois. Steve
has offered to make himself available (free!) to any property owner along the
streams in the Retreat for advice and consultation on their streamside property
management. He can be contacted at 303-452-4892.