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Beetles Eating the Rocky Mountains Alive
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Wildfires in the forests in the Rocky Mountains can potentially threaten water and power supplies to millions of people across the western United States. The Colorado River, which is an important source of water for residents of 13 states, are in the middle of a 2.5 million acres of dying forests in Colorado and southern Wyoming, according to the U.S. Forest Service official Rick Cables. If these forests are to catch fire it could potentially lead to damaged or destroyed reservoirs, pipes and other infrastructure that supply water to millions of people in the Rocky Mountain region.

This threat is made possible by the largest recorded outbreak of bark beetles in the area. Bark beetles are insects that attack and kill living trees, which subsequently generates very large quantities of dry timber that can easily catch fire and lead to wildfires. These beetle infestations are naturally recurring events in the west; however, the scale of this movement is much larger than usual. This may be due to a lack of freezing weather in the region, which usually reduces the bark beetles population. Also, researchers fear that the situation will worsen due to global warming, which will decrease the amount of freezing weather, thus enabling the beetles population to further expand. According to Barbara Bentz, a research entomologist with the Forest Service, nearly 8 million acres of trees have fallen to the beetles. Canadian forests have also suffered from this outbreak and scientists in Canada believe that the “death of so many trees is altering local weather patterns and air quality.”

As a result of these outbreaks, many forests are being threatened in the west by not only the bugs themselves, but also wildfires, which the beetles indirectly instigate. As of now the Forest Service has received $26 million stimulus funds for the Rocky Mountain region to deal with the beetle-relate problems. However, dealing with the infestation could cost as much as $213 million. The government seems unlikely to provide any more support. The only solution to this problem is for the citizens in this region to unite and provide funding for this program. With your support, the forests of the Rocky Mountains can be preserved.

For More Information Check Out:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31413274/ns/us_news-environment/#storyContinued

http://www.asktheexterminator.com/Beetles/Bark_beetles.shtml

June 18, 2009 | 5:38 PM Comments  0 comments

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