Eyeing Beetles
The bark beetle epidemic is one of the most important issues facing Western resource managers in decades. Beetles have ravaged forests across the Intermountain West leaving behind dead trees and natural fuels. Some experts say makes these forests vulnerable to wildfire, while others say that is not necessarily the case. One thing they do agree on, however, is the scientific research on the periodic nature of these outbreaks, which indicates three driving forces that have caused the beetles to reproduce and spread to vulnerable tree hosts