Burn potential high for beetle kill
Thu, 07/17/2014 - 6:00am
News Staff
La Garitas in ‘red stage’ of progression, experts say
By Alan Wartes.
For most people, the ongoing spruce beetle epidemic in the southern reaches of the Gunnison Basin is mostly “out of sight, out of mind.” But anyone who visits the La Garita region these days gets a vivid reminder of the scope of the disaster. In many places, dead trees have turned the entire landscape from green to a muddy red. “This epidemic is pretty unprecedented,” said Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) forester Sam Pankratz.
