Latest Dixie National Forest Stories

Utah researchers said bark beetles are destroying spruce trees in the Dixie National Forest. The U.S. Forest Service's Bark Beetle Technical Working Group said the bark beetle is an "agent of change" in conifer forests in the Rocky Mountain region, the Deseret Morning News reported this week. "We're talking hundreds of thousands of acres they have basically been wiped out -- pretty much the entire spruce component in the Dixie National Forest," Colleen Keyes of the Utah Division of Forestry,...

By Stephen Speckman Deseret News A vicious cycle is brewing in Utah: Bark beetles are killing a lot of trees in the state. Dead trees are fuel for wildfires, which experts say contributes to global warming. And climate change is now being blamed for an increased population of bark beetles. The Dixie National Forest bears one of the most obvious signs in Utah of the mark being left by a tiny tree predator commonly known as the bark beetle, a wood-boring insect that in large enough numbers...

With wanton disregard for public resources, a few "uncaring" and selfish people have done great damage to historic national forest guard stations and trails resources on the Dixie National Forest. The stations, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s on the Cedar City and Pine Valley Ranger District, have been victim to multiple instances of vandalism. Recently the doors and windows of the Bear Valley Guard Station were destroyed. Similar acts have been perpetrated on forest...

ESCALANTE, Garfield County -- A road has reopened and forest specialists have started restoring the ecosystem in the wake of the season's first wildfire near here. Forest managers are working to help stabilize and prevent further damage to natural and cultural resources in the area after the Corn Creek Fire charred 2,269 acres, Dixie National Forest officials said. Forest Highway 17, also known as Main Canyon Road, was reopened Monday, but Corn Creek Road remained closed. A car fire...

ESCALANTE, Garfield County -- A road has reopened and forest specialists have started restoring the ecosystem in the wake of the season's first wildfire near here. Forest managers are working to help stabilize and prevent further damage to natural and cultural resources in the area after the Corn Creek Fire charred 2,269 acres, Dixie National Forest officials said. Forest Highway 17, also known as Main Canyon Road, was reopened Monday, but Corn Creek Road remained closed. A car fire...