A Change of Pace!

In recent years, a pine bark beetle epidemic in the Northern Rocky Mountains has devastated stands of Ponderosa and Lodgepole Pine. I must admit that when this huge infestation hit our area around Helena, I was skeptical that it would or could do the damage that others had predicted. But all I have to do is look out my office window to the south to see what nature has wrought! Just to the south of our home in Helena, no more than 75 yards or so, there is or was a stand of Ponderosa Pine that several years ago seemed to be reasonably healthy. Then about 3-4 years ago, some of the trees began dying. This was not unexpected because that happens in nature, especially in forest stands that are too dense and in need of some natural thinning. But over that 3 or 4 year period, it appears that nearly 90 percent of the trees have died from the beetles, and the epidemic may not be over.

Over the past few weeks, the whining and buzzing of chainsaws could be heard throughout the day as dead trees were being felled and stacked for burning by crews employed by the city of Helena. Under other circumstances, my instinct would be to object to such an operation because dead trees are beneficial to many bird and other wildlife species. And indeed, the numbers and diversity of woodpecker species in other areas of dead and dying trees near Helena are noticeably greater than only several years ago. But these dead trees above our home actually border the back yards of our neighbors and likely pose a significant danger of wildfire during the hot days of summer.

This morning, as I returned home from visiting a friend, smoke billowed upwards from the remains of the Ponderosa Pine forest just to the south of our home. Fire crews were igniting and tending to the numerous piles of slash that remained from the weeks of chainsaw action. And I concluded that in this instance, that is a good thing! As you might expect, there is some debate about the conclusion by some experts that this insect infestation has been exacerbated by the trend to warmer temperatures in our area over the past several decades. They say these Pine Bark Beetles do not fare well during periods of intense cold that use to be the norm around here. I don't know whether this is the case or not. But I do know that this insect epidemic seems to be the worst to hit forests in the Northern Rocky Mountains in recorded history - so there is certainly something going on in nature that should have a rational explanation!

I took the following series of photos to record the happenings of the day to compare them with what the area will look like several years down the road. Hopefully, there will be some natural tree regeneration resulting from seeds produced by the fortunate few mature trees that remain.