Bugs a Problem for People, Trees ; Sandia Ranger Warns of Dangers

By LEE ROSS Mountain View Telegraph

The insect problem in the Sandia Mountains is not only killing trees, but it’s a danger to people as well, according to Sandia District Ranger Cid Morgan.

Because the fires that would normally occur in the forest have been suppressed for about 100 years, the number of trees has increased to crowded conditions, according to Morgan.

That means bugs are also on the rise.

The Western balsam bark beetle, fir engraver beetle and Douglas fir tussock moth are the bugs responsible for most of the recent tree deaths, but insect infestations are nothing new. The Cibola National Forest has endured widespread tree deaths over the past several years due to bark beetles.

These bugs are a natural part of the forest, and have always existed there, but are now more successful in the crowded environment.

Morgan used the example of people crowding in — and spreading illnesses to each other — at the Superdome in New Orleans during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

In a similar way, she said, the crowded conditions in the Sandias help to spread damaging bugs among trees.

She began noticing the effects of the insects while driving up and down the mountain, she said.

The tree deaths have led to concern about trees falling on hikers.

“I’m very concerned about the trails, especially in the Sandia Wilderness. … People need to be heads-up,” she said. “If there’s a wind event (high winds), they need to be out of the woods.”

She added that dead trees are also a hazard in many of the forest’s other public areas, like picnic grounds and trailheads. It’s a problem that has outstripped the ability of the U.S. Forest Service to clear the trees, in some cases.

“(Last year) we had the Capulin picnic area and snowplay area cleared of all hazards,” she said.

Because of the bug infestation, however, she said there are a number of worrying snags, or dead trees, in that area again.

“So much has died over the winter and this summer that we just can’t keep up with it,” she said. “It’s happening so fast … the level of impact, there’s no way we could keep up with it.”

AlthoughWhile the Forest Service may use insecticide in some areas, she said she wouldn’t advise large-scale treatment of the insect problem.

“We’d have to spray with massive amounts of non-species-specific insecticide … you’d be killing a lot of non-target species,” she said.

If such a treatment was proposed, Morgan said, much of the damage would already be done by the time the appropriate environmental analysis was processed. In addition, she would anticipate legal battles.

“We’d have a lot of opposition to it. I’m not going to waste a lot of taxpayer dollars going there,” Morgan said.

Looking to the future effects of the insects, Morgan said yet another danger looms, once most of the dead trees have fallen.

“If they (the dead trees) are standing, they’re not much of a fire hazard,” she said. “(When they fall) it will make a good bed of fuel.”

When a number of trees fall, scattering in all directions, it creates what Morgan called “jackstraw conditions.” Morgan explained that, from a distance, the forest looks like it is covered with handfuls of straw.

Morgan said if there is low moisture next year — which would mean the living trees are dried out — and trees on the forest floor, “you’re talking explosive conditions, and if we get a fire in there (the Sandias) we will not be able to put it out.”

In preparation, Morgan and a team of U.S. Forest Service experts have begun work on a thinning project. The goal of the project is not to save the forest from fire, but to protect the homes that are in the forest or at its edge.

“Right now what we’re trying to concentrate on is the wildlandurban interface (homes in or near the forest) … we want to make a buffer,” she said.

To put together a proposal for thinning and an environmental analysis, a forester, a soil scientist, a fuel specialist, a wildlife biologist, a hydrologist and engineers specializing in thinning projects will all need to look at the issue.

Morgan said animal habitat is another factor that may also affect the areas to be treated. A wildlife survey, part of the environmental analysis, will include an evaluation of whether the areas to be treated are habitats for the Northern Goshawk, which is classified as a Forest Service sensitive species, and the Mexican Spotted Owl, which is an endangered species.

“We’re looking not only at fuels treatment but also at forest health … (we’re) concentrating on removing the smaller materials, leaving pockets of totally untreated areas. This is not a way to go in and cut down the big pumpkins,” Morgan said.

“Big pumpkins” is a term for Ponderosa pines — the older, larger trees have orange coloration in their bark.

She said the team is currently analyzing an area of fewer than 2,500 acres. The area for treatment will be considerably less than that.

“(Right now) we are literally out in the woods gathering information,” she said.

Once a few preliminary treatments have been developed, a public meeting will be held to discuss any proposed action.

According to Morgan, the thinning project won’t make the fire danger go away.

“Don’t be surprised if we have a large, catastrophic wildfire in the East Mountains,” she said.

(c) 2007 Albuquerque Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.