The Steamboat Pilot & Today

North Routt County resident Jim Burton looks at sap oozing from a pine tree in his subdivision. The tree attempts to defend itself by pushing the pine beetle out with sap.

Photo by Matt Stensland

A stand of beetle-killed pine trees glow in the late-afternoon sunlight in North Routt County. The mountain pine beetle has impacted more than 134,000 acres of lodgepole pine in 2007 in Routt County, an increase of nearly 55,000 acres from 2006.

Photo by Matt Stensland

Jim Burton, right, and his neighbor Ron Willhide walk along a road in their Red Creek subdivision in North Routt County. The area to the right of the road was logged to get rid of mature and infested lodgepole pine trees. The area to the left of the road has not been logged.

Photo by Matt Stensland

Andy Cadenhead, who works for the U.S. Forest Service, points to the larvae of a mountain pine beetle he found under the bark of a tree on Rabbit Ears Pass. The beetles are threatening forests across the western United States and Canada.

Photo by John F. Russell

Rocky Mountain Youth Corps crew members Sarah Yardley, left, and Cassie Moreschi stack logs at Seedhouse Campground in North Routt County.

Photo by Matt Stensland

Mountain pine beetles are reflected in the sun as they take flight from dead trees to new host trees in late June on Rabbit Ears Pass.

Photo by Matt Stensland

Geof Magrath, associate pro at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club in British Columbia, watches golfers through the dead lodgepole pines, which were the dominant species at the course. The club is building a new course in an area that has very little pine.

Photo by Matt Stensland

Sun shines through the pines at Lodgepole Campground in Gunnison National Forest.

Photo by Matt Stensland

The Lodgepole Campground’s mailbox.

Photo by Matt Stensland

Lodgepole Campground host Steve Gilbreath gazes at the pines around the grounds.

Photo by Matt Stensland

John Norman of Prince George walks up the ninth hole fairway lined with dead pines.

Photo by Matt Stensland

Andy Cadenhead, of the U.S. Forest Service, says the mountain pine beetle is a normal visitor to most forests. However, he said warmer mountain temperatures and drought conditions have helped the latest infestation reach epidemic levels.

Photo by John F. Russell

A mature bark beetle tunnels under the bark of a dying pine tree on Rabbit Ears Pass. The beetles bore through the bark of the trees, make a network of tunnels in the cambial layer and then lay eggs. The resulting damage causes the tree to die.

Photo by John F. Russell

A beetle is ready to lay a path of destruction after being pulled from under the bark of a dying pine tree at the top of Rabbit Ears Pass. The beetles, which are much smaller than a penny, are threatening forests across the western United States and Canada.

Photo by John F. Russell

Andy Cadenhead, who works for the U.S. Forest Service, takes the bark off a dying pine tree on Rabbit Ears Pass to look for the mountain pine beetle. Cadenhead said dying trees still may look healthy, but on the outside, small flows of hardened sap are a good indication that beetles are present. Cadenhead said the tree exudes the sap in an attempt to push the beetles out — the tree's only defense against the insect.

Photo by John F. Russell

Lodgepole pine needles in the sun at the Lodgepole Campground in Gunnison.

Photo by Matt Stensland

Red Creek subdivision resident Jim Burton, middle, supervises a burn with neighbors Ron Willhide, right, and James Snody.

Photo by Matt Stensland

Golfers finish up their round at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club in British Columbia, Canada.

Photo by Matt Stensland

The Prince George Golf and Curling Club, in British Columbia, Canada, had some infected lodgepoles removed.

Photo by Matt Stensland

Geof Magrath, associate pro at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club, in British Columbia, Canada, looks down one of the fairways lined with dead lodgepole pines.

Photo by Matt Stensland

Red Creek subdivision resident Jim Burton, right, supervises a burn with his neighbors.

Photo by Matt Stensland

Red Creek subdivision resident Jim Burton moved to the neighborhood in 2001, a year before the beetles started infesting the trees.

Photo by Matt Stensland

Beetle-killed trees spread across the landscape in Routt County. According to the U.S. Forest Service, the mountain pine beetle likely will kill the majority of Colorado's large-diameter lodgepole pine trees within the next three to five years.

Photo by Matt Stensland