Posted by Arthur Lund on January 16, 2010 at 6:54 PM
I am surprised that you don't believe it. It comes from the
sames news media that tells us the recession is over, that the
world is coming to an end because of man made global warming etc.
Posted by Todd Caudle on January 16, 2010 at 7:00 PM
While officials say the infestation may be reaching an anti-climatic end...
Um, Mr./Ms. Editor, don't you mean anti-climactic?
I find this plausible, in that the forests were so stressed out by drought, but the drought seems to have subsided significantly over the last several years, so their defenses are stronger. One can hope!
Posted by Bryan Maltais on January 17, 2010 at 2:10 AM
The article is VERY brief, and doesn't give many facts, let alone empirical data that "officials" used to make this judgment, so I wouldn't hold my breath. Humans are about as good at predicting ecological outcomes as they are forecasting the weather.
Posted by Roger Rouch on January 17, 2010 at 10:00 AM
"....say the tiny beetle that burrows beneath the bark of pine trees and leaves them turning a sickly red as they die, may be exhausting their food supply." My inexpert eye sees quite a bit of food supply left. I hope they are right and I'm wrong.
I continue to be amazed that some one hasn't come up with a viable commercial use for the standing dead. I wonder if this isn't caught up in some sort of bureacratic boondoggle over trivial issues, which will become mute when there is a massive forest fire disaster.
Posted by Brent Murphy on January 17, 2010 at 10:12 AM
That was an AP article. HERE is a longer article from the Denver Post. And they spelled "anti-climactic" correctly!
Posted by Jim Casteel on January 17, 2010 at 11:32 AM
Roger there is a viable commercial use for it. Wood pellets for stoves. In Walden there is now a large factory outside of town that is making as many wood pellets as they can. It should be a reasonably profitable business for them because the Forest Service is giving them the trees.
Posted by Roger Rouch on January 17, 2010 at 2:33 PM
Beetle kill can also be converted to bio fuel. There is an article here that talks a little more about the issues around this.
It sounds like there is a carbon neutral technology that would allow you to have power plants that would convert the dead beetle kill to for use as an energy source in a city's power supply.
The article doesn't mention it specifically, but there are microorganisms that can digest cellulose and convert it to biofuel much in the same way that yeast makes beer. Which is a good process.
Posted by Brett Deacon on January 18, 2010 at 3:07 AM
From the article: "The beetles "have gotten most of it already. There's not a lot left," said Cal Wettstein of the U.S. Forest Service, who is overseeing the agency's response to the infestation. "What they'll be doing over the next few years is cleaning up the stragglers."
*********
In the Medicine Bow National Forest near where I live, the "stragglers" appear to outnumber the dead trees. I'd love to believe this to be true, but I'm not going to hold my breath based on this flimsy argument. I was hoping this extremely cold winter would do the trick but I don't think it's been cold enough, long enough (at least not yet).
Discussion
8 replieshttp://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/22254931/detail.html
sames news media that tells us the recession is over, that the
world is coming to an end because of man made global warming etc.
Um, Mr./Ms. Editor, don't you mean anti-climactic?
I find this plausible, in that the forests were so stressed out by drought, but the drought seems to have subsided significantly over the last several years, so their defenses are stronger. One can hope!
I continue to be amazed that some one hasn't come up with a viable commercial use for the standing dead. I wonder if this isn't caught up in some sort of bureacratic boondoggle over trivial issues, which will become mute when there is a massive forest fire disaster.
It sounds like there is a carbon neutral technology that would allow you to have power plants that would convert the dead beetle kill to for use as an energy source in a city's power supply.
The article doesn't mention it specifically, but there are microorganisms that can digest cellulose and convert it to biofuel much in the same way that yeast makes beer. Which is a good process.
*********
In the Medicine Bow National Forest near where I live, the "stragglers" appear to outnumber the dead trees. I'd love to believe this to be true, but I'm not going to hold my breath based on this flimsy argument. I was hoping this extremely cold winter would do the trick but I don't think it's been cold enough, long enough (at least not yet).