Danger Lurks in Colorado Campgrounds

Folks who plan on camping in Colorado this summer might want to be aware of the trees surrounding them.  The Forest Service is announcing that trees weakened by the pine beetle epidemic threaten to fall down or blow over at any time.  This might sounds absurd, but I don't think you want to take any chances of having a 60-foot tall tree crash down on you or your camp.

Several campgrounds around the state will also be closed in order to clear out dangerous beetle kill.  The White River National Forest, Arapaho-Roosevelt NF and Medicine Bow-Routt NF are expected to announce closures.  Some of your favorite areas might soon be lacking vegetation and shade, which is a bummer, but better safe than sorry.  There's plenty of places in the forest to camp where you'll find all the trees and shade you could need.

Here in northwest Wyoming, we haven't been hit quite as hard as Colorado or even areas of Idaho, potentially due to the colder temperatures up here and longer, harsher winters.  In BC, projections say 78 percent of the pine forests will be killed by 2015.  This bodes the question, is global warming at fault for the beetle epidemic?

Comments

[Hunter Mortensen]

I live in the middle of the disaster. You can not imagine what our forests look like. From the top of any mountain you look out over a troubling purple world below, that is sparsely dotted with green. A tree falling on your tent is only a tiny part of the problem. The ski areas lose snow faster with out the trees for shade and wind blocks, the fire danger makes the old Yellowstone fire seem minor, and water and air quality is at great risk. We all have our regional problems, but this one might march north, and other mountain towns will find themselves in the bureaucratic stand still we are in trying to deal with with this little bug.

[MK]

It's truly saddening to see the forests in that area. Summit County, the Vail area, Granby and Grand Lake area, just decimated. And the fire threat posed by all this dead, dry timber is incredible. Talk about the raging forest fire of all raging forest fires, it's no longer a question of if, but when Colorado will set on fire.