COLORADO SPRINGS — Many southern Coloradans would tell you one of the things they love about living along the Front Range is that there are few bugs, but there still are some. One of those insects, a bark-eater known as the Mountain Pine Beetle, may be making a comeback.
The Colorado State Forest Service's 2024 Annual Report shows an uptick in acres affected by Mountain Pine beetles since 2021, suggesting an increase in the critter's population.
Officials with the Forest Service say the insect's presence is not close to the levels experienced several years ago.
Colorado State Forest Service's Supervisory Forester Mike Till said this uptick reflects the beetle's natural population cycle.
"Just like any dynamic living organism on the earth, it's cyclical," said Till. "It's all cyclical, and we're just seeing the boom."
Mountain Pine Beetles are native to Colorado, and Till said the recent population increase may be due to increased stress on trees. He added those stressors can be anything from fires to lack of nutrients and water for the trees along the Front Range.
"Lack of nutrients, lack of water, lack of available resources for the tree," said Till. "On the Front Range, we deal a lot with Ponderosa Pine, and depending on where you are, Limber Pine and then some Lodgepole, then that's what they they use as a host species."
Kelsey Johnson, a Colorado Springs homeowner, said she has several Ponderosa Pines in her yard, and added preventative spray had been applied to her trees in the past.
"We had to have some of our Ponderosa Pines in our backyard treated for it to make sure that they would stay healthy," said Johnson.
Mountain Pine Beetles do not eat dead bark, so the wood on someone's house would be safe. However, to protect live pine trees, Till said ensure the trees have enough resources to be healthy, like sunlight and moisture, so they don't become stressed and attract these bugs.
Till said preventative spray should be a necessary option only if these beetles are present adjacent to one's property.
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