U.S. Forest Service fighting ‘dwarf mistletoe disease,’ killing trees in Park and Teller Counties
FLORISSANT, Colo. (KRDO) -- The U.S. Forest Service is currently working to fight a disease that is killing trees in Park and Teller counties.
The disease is spread from a plant called "dwarf mistletoe," which might sound festive but is actually deadly for the trees it inhabits.
"It sucks off the nutrients and distorts the growth and shape of the tree, and eventually the tree will die from this parasitic plant," said Josh Voorhis, South Park District Ranger for the U.S. Forest Service.
This year, the U.S. Forest Service is harvesting 2,000 acres near Lake George, going through forests to identify trees infected with disease and areas that are too densely populated.
"It's kind of a slow-moving disease, but once you get an infestation going, it just keeps expanding until either a fire or harvest like this to try to slow it down," said Voorhis.
The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) marks the healthy plants with bright orange paint and leaves the infected, dying trees unmarked. USFS then contracts with crews to come in and remove the diseased trees.
If the trees are left untreated, the USFS explained the trees with depleted nutrients dry out and become fire fuel. The Forest Service is also searching for overcrowding where a wildfire could quickly spread by spreading through a dense tree canopy.
"If a fire comes through, it's just going to destroy everything and it's going to sterilize the soil," said Andrew Larson, who oversees the work between the Forest Service and contractors.
After crews cut down the trees, they sort them into piles and carry the logs by truck to mills throughout the state.
Next year, the USFS says they will focus on a new area for wildfire mitigation.
"I don't think we'll ever get rid of, you know, all the diseases, of course, in the forest," said Ryan Harlow, a Supervisory Forester with the Forest Service. "Certain years we may have more insect disease hits. I think our goal really is to in general have a better situation where we can fend off these attacks."
