Pine beetles continue to persist at Lubrecht

by Jessica Stugelmayer | March 17, 2010 | Montana Kaimin

Although time is said to be the healer of all things, it doesn’t hold true in the case of the pine beetle infestation of the Lubrecht Experimental Forest.

In the past five months, the pine beetles in the Lubrecht Experimental Forest have gotten worse, and according to forest manager Frank Maus, the situation is expected to stay that way.

“I don’t think we’ll see declines in the (pine beetle) population,” Maus said.

He said forest workers are not finding any mortality amongst the larvae living in the trees. He said that a “good, cold winter” is the best way to knock the beetles out, but the region didn’t get one this year.

These beetles attack primarily Ponderosa, Lodgepole, Whitebark, Scots and Limber pine trees.

The method for fighting the infestation has been to cut down infested trees and send them to local mills to be processed. Maus said as soon as the forest becomes dry enough to work in again, workers will continue this procedure.

Maus said he also plans to spray trees in Lubrecht with a mixture called “Carbaryl,” a chemical applied to the outer bark of the tree that kills the pine beetle. He said he’s not too hopeful about getting rid of them completely.
“I don’t know whether or not we have the capability of doing that,” Maus said.

He said warmer summers have allowed additional migrations of beetles, leading to more than one attack on trees. He said the historical behavior of the pine beetle is to have one to two flights in early summer. But now, he is seeing flights later into July and August.

Recent developments in the struggle against the beetles by scientists in Colorado have raised both hopes and doubts. A solution called “Chitosan,” which is made out of crustacean exoskeletons, could be used to counter the beetle epidemic.

Maus said Lubrecht staff will continue to experiment with methods to eradicate the beetles this summer, but he doesn’t think anything will make an impact until Montana gets a winter with lower temperatures.

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