Slowing the Red

Scattered patches of red trees are becoming a more familiar sight in ponderosa pine along Colorado’s Front Range. Scientists, land managers and partners are working to reduce beetle impacts while building more resilient forests.

“The amount of mortality we’re seeing over the last four years has steadily increased,” said Marianne Davenport, forest entomologist with the Forest Service Forest Health Protection in the Rocky Mountain Region.

Adult beetles fly to a pine, bore under the bark and lay eggs. The larvae then feed on the inner tissue that carries water and nutrients. A single tree can host thousands of developing beetles, and when they emerge, they fly to nearby trees. When enough trees in one area are attacked, a few red trees can become a pocket, and pockets can spread along an entire hillside.