Montana forests face onslaught of pine beetles

We are in the midst of a dramatic transformation of the forested landscape in many parts of Montana. Thousands of acres of pine forests — which had been a continuous sea of green — are now mottled with an ever-increasing number of bright red trees.

If you live or have traveled near Helena, Butte, Bozeman, Deer Lodge or Seeley Lake, you've seen the effects.

Since 2000, the mountain pine beetle has killed an estimated 3 million acres of Montana forests. Foresters and fire managers have been concerned about potential effects of these insects for several years, and have tried to help prepare for the epidemic we knew was coming. This task has been difficult, for several reasons.

Montana has been in a prolonged drought for the past decade, and this has dramatically reduced tree vigor — trees that are water-stressed cannot effectively fend off insect pests. Normally, cold temperatures during the winter would help keep the bark beetle population in check, but Montana hasn't had a prolonged cold snap during any winters in recent memory. A lack of wildfires or forest management has led to densely-stocked stands — another cause for stressed trees.

As a result, conditions are ripe for an epidemic. We have an increasing beetle population, an abundance of available food in the form of stressed trees, and a mild climate that enables beetles to survive over the winter. Seeing the dramatic changes across the landscape in just the past few years causes me to be concerned about what other forests will die, and what additional Montana communities will be at risk of wildfire in the coming years.

Mountain pine beetle activity is certainly a natural process, and like most insects, the beetle population has historically declined after a few years. But while most infestations are cyclic, many entomologists believe that this epidemic may continue as long as there is an available food source and mild winters.

It is difficult to predict the weather, but the available food source is evident — there are hundreds of thousands of acres of mature lodgepole and ponderosa pine in the path of the beetle.

Although we couldn't prevent this epidemic, there were and continue to be actions which reduce the threats to forests, communities and the loss of economic value from prolonged bark beetle attacks.

We need an integrated response to mountain pine beetle that includes the harvest of infested and/or dead trees, as well as thinning live trees to help improve their vigor.

In partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation is currently distributing nearly $10 million dollars of federal stimulus funds for thinning and fuels reduction on state and private lands in western Montana. Managers of DNRC state trust lands and thousands of private forest landowners are working hard to respond to the beetle epidemic on their lands as well.

A significant part of this epidemic is on federal forest lands, so federal agencies must also have adequate funding and a social license for rapid response in order to make a difference. The good news is that another epidemic, one of collaboration on forest management and reducing fire risk in the wildland-urban interface, is quietly building across the state.

Groups such as the Kootenai Forest Stakeholders Coalition, Swan Ecosystem Center, Montana Forest Restoration Committee, FireSafe Montana, Clearwater Resource Council, Blackfoot Challenge and partnership proposals focused on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge and Lolo National Forests all hold tremendous promise to move beyond the timber wars of the past.

We should capitalize on these collaborative efforts to begin treating affected or susceptible forests near communities and municipal watersheds, and improve the resiliency of forests on federal, state and private lands. Montana's forestry professionals, the forest industry and the conservation community are ready to work together to respond to this challenge.

Bob Harrington is a spokesman for the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.