MT, ID Pine Beetle Infestation Nearly Doubles In One Year - ENN

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — The region's largest infestation of mountain pine beetles in 20 years has hit more than a million acres of forests in northern Idaho and Montana, while 2.5 million acres in Washington face disease and insect problems. Recent flight surveys by the U.S. Forest Service and state forest management agencies found that years of drought have left forests in the Northwest vulnerable.

The surveys found that 1.1 million acres of forest came under attack by mountain pine beetle in northern Idaho and Montana in 2005, an increase from the 675,000 acres the year before. The Washington Department of Natural Resources reported that mountain pine beetles were at "epidemic" levels, with a 28 percent increase to 554,000 acres. Overall, insect and disease problems are present in 2.5 million of Washington's 21 million acres of forest, up from 1.9 million acres the previous year.

Karen Ripley, an entomologist with the Washington Department of Natural Resources, said last year's abundant rain and this winter's good snowpack will reduce the stress on the region's forests.

But she said it would take several years of normal moisture for forests to return to health. She said fire suppression combined with a lack of logging means nature will find a way to remove trees. "Nature's way is to have some of the beetles kill some of the trees," Ripley told The Spokesman-Review. "That relieves some of the competition. We've got a lot of stressed trees out there now, and they're easy pickings."


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