With the recent resignation of one of the members of the HCFPD Board of Directors the BOD has authorized a search for the best qualified person to appoint to this position until the next election (May 2010).

This Board is in DESPERATE NEED of a HIGHLY QUALIFIED individual to serve the community!  This is a volunteer position.

If you are interested in being on the HCFPD BOD please send your resume to:

HCFPD Board of Directors
448 Pine Drive
Rollinsville, CO 80474

You will be contacted if the Board would like to interview you.

Gilpin County Citizens Initiative Board Meeting

June 24, 2009

7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Meeting called by Wes Isenhart (GCCI President and Chairman of the Board)

 Attendees:      GCCI Officers, BOD and concerned citizens

Please read:   Please review GCCI Website (www.gcci.us)

Please bring:  N/A

Additional Instructions:

 The meeting will be held at the Gilpin County Justice Center, in the Community Room (1^st floor)

 Pheromone Pouches: We will be distributing our final pheromone orders this Saturday June 27^th at the county barn.  We’ll be in the lobby with your packs from 9am-11am.  For those who still want to order pheromones, you can order with a credit card by going to the GCCI website (www.gcci.us) and clicking on the links at the bottom.  We will also be taking orders for pheromone packs at the GCCI board meeting tomorrow night (Wednesday) if you want to stop by with a check.

 Hot Yard open on weekends: The County continues to take hot logs at the Biomass Collection site on the weekends from 8am-4:30pm.  Right now it is the safest way to dispose of infected trees before the beetles start to fly.  

 GCCI Board Meeting: The board meeting will be tomorrow night (Wednesday June 24^th) at the Justice Center Community Room starting at 7pm.  We still have one board position open for anyone who is interested.

 Website Features: We have added a contact form to the www.gcci.us website.  If you have a request or want to send a comment then click on the “contact GCCI” link on the upper right side and then fill out the contact form.  You can also send requests and comments to info@gcci.us.

 We have also setup an interactive citizen’s forum at gcci.wordpress.com.  We have provided a link at the left hand top on the front page of the website for access.  The forum is available to discuss a variety of topics relating to the epidemic and forest management issues.

 July and August Recommendations: Lots of hiking and romping around in the outdoors before the beetles devour everything.  See you in the fall when fall mitigation efforts get going.

Pheromone Pouches: Everyone who has already ordered pheromone pouches can pick them up on Saturday June 13^th at the county barn from 9am-noon.  We’ll be in the lobby with your packs.  For those who still want to order pheromones, you can now order with a credit card by going to the GCCI website (www.gcci.us) and clicking on the links.  We will also be taking orders for pheromone packs at the barn if you want to stop by with a check.  We plan on another distribution towards the end of the June.

 Hot Yard now open on weekends: Gilpin County is now accepting hot logs on the weekends.  You can take them to the Biomass Collection site and the site supervisor will check your load and then direct you to the drop off location.  This is a quantum improvement in the operation of the biomass collection program and offers a final opportunity to get rid of infected trees in a safe manner.  It is important to only haul in hot trees to the hot yard.  You can check whether a tree is hot by peeling back the bark and looking for beetles.  When dropping off loads at the collection site try to stay left at the gate so that we create a one way traffic pattern and help the site supervisor.

 Spraying on the 18^th: Safari Tree and Landcare (303-464-1613 safaritlc@comcast.net) will be in the area again on June 18^th for spraying.  Targeted spraying involves identifying your best trees and then selecting the ones you want to protect by spraying them.  Deciding which trees are your best trees is a personal assessment that includes trees that are part of a wind break, add to the value of the property or have aesthetic or sentimental value.

 When to stop cutting: I asked Dave Leatherman, a retired forest service entomologist, about the risk of cutting during beetle activity.  His reply highlights the need to cut hot trees but delay general thinning until late fall.

 Is there any valid science to the scenario that pine terpenes attract beetles and when should be people stop doing fire mitigation and beetle control?

 I would call this one of those “in a perfect world” kind of things.  IF you can avoid cutting during the cutting season and for 4-6 weeks prior (in other words June 1 to September 1), it would be preferable to cutting during that period so as not to risk attraction of both beetles.  I have seen clear instances where it appears both beetles came into an area because of the scent from fresh cutting.  Both beetles respond to attractant pheromones which include the aroma of pine terpenes as a basis for the compounds they modify internally and then emit as more specific, even better (for their purposes) materials.  I was probably the one who started putting this into the mix of “best practices” many years ago.  It has been overblown in some cases and I have since toned down my statements about it.  What I would say now is that cutting work that reduces fire hazard (at any time) or properly treats infested beetle trees (prior to and right up to beetle flight) probably trumps the potential (but not automatic) risk of attracting beetles into a cutting activity area.  If cutting can be avoided during (certainly) and in the month or so immediately prior to MPB flight (even better), then plan work accordingly.  If not, and fire reasons or reduction of a local known population of beetles are dictating the need to cut, go ahead.  It’s sort of like, if you are bleeding, and all you have to stop it is an unsanitized shirt which risks infection, go ahead and stop the flow.  The known bleeding is worse than the potential for complications.  Next time you’re in a situation where cuts are possible, have a sterile bandage with you as a safeguard.

 Lastly I would say that if cutting is done any time between April 15 and October 15, the potential for Ips being attracted to the area and infesting the cut wood is very good, especially when the population is as high as it is in conjunction with a MPB epidemic.  But in most instances I have seen, the likelihood of a build-up in the cut wood spreading to standing trees is relatively low UNLESS the cut wood is stacked right up against live trees and the area of treatment is in the 100′s of acres (as opposed to a few acres).  For large areas of treatment, I would recommend cutting activity be done in the period of late fall-early winter (October 15 to January 1).  And always stack the wood and slash out away from live trees and lop and scatter it when possible to facilitate drying, keep stacks low, burn in the winter if the threat of attacks on live trees and need for fuel reduction exceed anyone’s need to use the wood – these kinds of things.

 OTHER: There are volunteer opportunities to help haul hot logs and slash.  If you have a pickup or trailer and would like to help please send an email to info@gcci.us with your availability.

 The GCCI website (www.gcci.us) has a number of new features including a great link on defensible space and a blog forum for community comments.

 If you want to be removed from the GCCI email list please reply to this email with the word REMOVE in the subject line.

 Wes Isenhart
President, Gilpin County Citizens Initiative
303 582-5417

How can you help?

1. Participate – by adding you comments to topics in this blog you can share your experience and knowledge with your fellow citizens
2. Attend activities – see www.gcci.us for a list of upcoming activities that you may want to participate in, right here in Gilpin County
3. Attend Board of Directors meetings – see www.gcci.us for information on when and where the next Board meeting will be held
4. Join GCCI – by joining GCCI you will receive newsletters, updates and have oppertunities to help your fellow citizens
5. Donate to GCCI – GCCI is in the process of becoming a non-profit organization and your donations will be used to meet the goals of GCCI

To join GCCI just send an email to join@gcci.us
or just add a comment to this post – your information will be removed once GCCI has added you to our membership list

Include the following:

• Name
• Address
• Phone numbers (home and cell)
• Subdivision/Neighborhood name
• email address
• Short comment about what how you would like GCCI to help you and how you can help GCCI

To donate to GCCI contact any of the Board of Directors or send a check made out to GCCI to:

GCCI
PO BOX 782
Black Hawk, CO 80422

Please indicate if you would like a receipt since your donation will be tax deductible once GCCI gets 501(c) approval (expected this year)

We need to consider what to do for the Flea Market and the distribution of pheromone packages.

*Failure to follow even one of these rules and you will lose trees to beetles.

Solar treatment may be appropriate in some areas of Colorado to reduce beetle populations in infested trees.

There are two options of solar treatment: with plastic sheeting, and without plastic.

Without Plastic Clearly identify infested trees with larva Remove branches from tree. Cut tree to 4 ft. logs Make groups of 5-7 logs, 1-layer deep. Do not stack!

Start date Best if started in early spring (mid-April, early May) Duration At least 8 weeks

Location Southern exposure Open, sunny area with many hours of direct sunlight.

Temperature: Logs need to reach temperatures of 110°F or more

Rotate logs Every 3 weeks rotate 1/3 of a turn Plastic 6-mil clear plastic Water logs previous to covering. Seal edges with dirt Follow the same procedures as without plastic.

Difficulties: Plastic disposal Ants may nest inside plastic Logs may not reach 110°F Insects (and the beetle) can chew through plastic Plastic may rip, repair with duct tape

In lodgepole forests it may be difficult to find open areas

Silvicultural manipulations: Pine trees respond to mountain pine beetle by “pitching out” with pressurized resin. Therefore, thinning stands to reduce competition for light, nutrients, and water will enhance the vigor of residual trees and consequently promote resilience to beetle activity. Diversifying age classes and including tree species that do not host mountain pine beetle (such as western larch) will also minimize stand-level tree mortality.

Brood trees: Identifying and removing trees currently infested with mountain pine beetle offspring can directly reduce populations in the stand. Accurate identification is critical for this tactic to be successful. Infested trees will commonly have an apparently healthy, green crown. Closer inspection might reveal pitch tubes on the bole, although these diagnostic structures are not always evident, especially in dry conditions. Pealing back the bark will expose galleries. Look for larvae, pupae, or adults under the bark to determine current infestation. Brood trees must be removed from the stand as immature beetles can successfully continue development in a cut tree.

Log decks: Mountain pine beetle will continue to develop in trees even after they are cut. Therefore, it is critical to remove infested logs from the site well before the next beetle flight period (June through August) in order to inhibit dispersal.

Chemical treatments: Protective chemicals are available to spray on the main bole of the tree that effectively deter mountain pine beetle infestation. Please contact the DNRC Forest Pest Management Program coordinator or a certified forest pesticide applicator to discuss this option.

Pheromones: Mountain pine beetle must mass attack in order to overcome a tree’s natural defense mechanisms. They communicate via chemical messages, called pheromones, and can recruit other beetles by emitting a specific aggregation pheromone. As the tree becomes too full to sustain additional offspring, they switch to an anti-aggregation pheromone, essentially sending a “no vacancy” message to other beetles. Researchers and manufacturers have successfully manipulated the anti-aggregation chemical, verbenone, that acts as naturally occurring beetle repellant and can be used to treat small-scale acreages prone to Mountain pine beetle activity.

The higher the risk of beetle infestation, the more dispensers (bags) you need to use. If you have neighbors that have or can see more than a few infested trees, you will need to increase the amount of bags you use.

Make sure there are no beetle present on your property.
Place BeetleBlock dispensers in a line on the edge of the up-wind side of the area to be protected. Continue in a grid placement based on the number chosen per acre. If extra dispensers are left after initial placement, distribute throughout the entire area or in areas with high concentrations of susceptible trees.
Place on larger trees if there is a choice at 6-12 feet above the ground. Use a heavy duty staple gun or nail to tree. Staple or nail only through the colored tab at the top of the dispenser.

Rates are as follows:
Number per acre Spacing
20 47 ft x 47 ft
25 42 x 42
30 38 x 38
35 35.3 X 35.3
40 33 x 33
45 31 X 31
50 29.5 X 29.5
NOTE: In practical use spacing is approximate. Pacing the distances is accurate enough.