Aspen Tree Dieoffs Puzzle Colorado Forest Service, Scientists

[hatrack]

MANCOS, Colo. -- Up to 60 percent of aspen stands in the Dolores Ranger District's Turkey Knolls area are dead or dying, and that's raised more than a few eyebrows among forest officials and local business leaders. "I think we're going to see huge changes in 30 to 40 years," said Phil Kemp, forester with the Dolores Public Lands Center. Turkey Knolls is about 12 miles north of Mancos.

Kemp first noticed the change in aspen stands two to three years ago, but the first official report of dying aspens in Southwest Colorado came when the U.S. Forest Service's forest health management group did an aerial survey of the area, marking the changes in aspen stands.

Dying aspens have been recorded in other states as well, but there is no apparent pattern, said Wayne Shepperd, research forester with the Forest Service's Rocky Mountain Research Station in Fort Collins. "It seems to be occurring at different places and to various degrees," he said. "We have lots of questions, but no answers," Shepperd said. "We haven't seen anything like this in Colorado before."

The Durango and Bayfield areas have not seen widespread aspen death, according to Dave Crawford, a forester with the Bayfield-based Columbine Ranger District. A stand of aspen trees near Electra Lake along U.S. Highway 550 "gives the appearance that it's dying off," but has begun to recover and re-leaf despite the presence of defoliating tent caterpillars, Crawford said.

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http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/9488261/detail.html?rss=den&psp=news

[aquart]

1. Take heed, Libby.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Aw, jeez--my thaughts exactly.

They're all connected at the roots.