Today’s forest health outreach update covers the following topics:
* Forest Stewardship Tip of the Day: Mountain Pine Beetle Flight Time
* Announcement: Mountain Residents Urged to Review Insurance Policies
* Denver Post Article of Interest: Waldo Canyon Fire and Proactive Wildfire Mitigation

Forest Stewardship Tip of the Day: Mountain Pine Beetle Flight Time
Forestry Tip of the Day: Mountain pine beetles (MPBs) typically fly once per year between mid-July to mid-Sept. Within this three month flight window there is a two week window (called mass flight) when a vast majority of MPBs synchronize their flight in order to overwhelm the natural defenses of our pine trees. The timing of mass flight fluctuates slightly each year depending on your elevation and spring/early summer daytime temperatures. This year we are guessing mass flight will occur slightly early than normal.

Forest landowners should use caution when cutting during the heart of beetle flight since MPBs can be attracted to freshly cut pine. We do think it is okay to continue cutting during beetle flight, especially if you are working to create effective defensible space on your land, but be conscience about your methods.

When cutting during MPB flight try to limit the amount of time fresh cut pine branches and logs stay on your land. If possible it is best to cut and remove the freshly cut pine material from your land quickly. If removal isn’t feasible make sure to stack freshly cut pine material away from high value trees. Chipping freshly cut pine branches back onto the forest floor can also attract beetles to your land. During beetle flight if you can’t quickly remove pine branches or chipped slash from your land it would likely be a better option to leave the slash whole than chip it back onto your land.

Keep in mind that you can cut fir, spruce, aspen and other non-pine species of trees during beetle flight without worry of attracting MPBs. You can also cut dead trees and remove the dead lower branches of any tree species.

Why is this important??  You can reduce the total impacts from beetles on your land if you aggressively survey for and remove newly infested trees. We recommend that you survey your land for the presence of beetles at least once per year starting between Sept. 15 and Oct. 1.  In general the absolute best time of the year to be on your land cutting is from about Mid-Sept. to Mid-March. Both MPBs and Ips bark beetles are the least active during the cooler fall and winter months.

* We recently put together a step-by-step Bark Beetle Management Guide which walks you through Mountain Pine Beetle and Ips beetle identification. Weblink:http://www.bouldercounty.org/find/library/environment/barkbeetlefieldguide.pdf (3MB)
* Weblink to Colorado State Forest Service’s mountain pine beetle management info: http://csfs.colostate.edu/pages/mountain-pine-beetle.html

Announcement: Mountain Residents Urged to Review Insurance Policies 
Boulder County and Foothills United Way to host two free insurance workshops

Recent fires all along the Front Range have served as catastrophic reminders of the need for foothills and mountain dwellers to make sure they are adequately insured before disaster strikes.

Now is a critical time for mountain residents to check their insurance policies and ensure their homes are adequately covered and to take some easy steps to prepare for any disaster.

Foothills United Way and Boulder County are holding two free educational workshops to help residents make sure they are properly insured and to learn how to be prepared for any natural disaster:

* Nederland – Monday, July 23, 7-8:30 p.m. – Nederland Community Center, 750 Highway 72
* Boulder – Tuesday, July 24, 6:30-8 p.m. – Commissioners’ Hearing Room, Boulder County Courthouse, third floor, 1325 Pearl St.

The workshops will cover several topics, including:
1) Lessons learned from Fourmile Canyon Fire Survivors
2) Tips from United Policyholders’ ‘Roadmap to Preparedness’ Program (www.uphelp.org)
3) How to ensure your insurance policy accurately reflects the real cost of rebuilding in the mountains west of Boulder
4) Practical ways your family can be prepared in the case of a natural disaster

Often, the cost to rebuild, especially in the mountains, exceeds the amount of coverage policyholders carry for their homes and other property. Adding to this problem is the homeowner’s lack of awareness that the policies they carry are inadequate.

“One of the hard lessons of the Fourmile Canyon Fire was that more than 60 percent of property owners were underinsured,” said Garry Sanfaçon, Boulder County’s Fourmile Fire Recovery Manager. “These workshops will give people the tools they need to make sure they are adequately covered.”

To learn more now about insuring your home adequately, view this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMNtIzlTsbg.

For more information about the workshops, contact: Amy E. Hardy, Fourmile Recovery Resource Coordinator, Foothills United Way, at ahardy@nullunitedwayfoothills.org or 303-895-3418.

Denver Post Article of Interest: Waldo Canyon Fire and proactive Wildfire Mitigation

We thought folks might be interested in reading a recent Denver Post article which focuses on the proactive wildfire mitigation that helped save homes during the Waldo Canyon Fire. Read the article here: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_21065300/work-protect-homes-before-waldo-canyon-fire-yielded

Cheers,
Ryan

Ryan Ludlow | Forestry Education & Outreach Coordinator 
Boulder County | Land Use Department
P.O. Box 471, Boulder CO 80306
O: 720.564.2641 | F: 303.441.4856
rludlow@nullbouldercounty.org | www.bouldercounty.org/ForestHealth
*Please visit our website to sign-up to receive emails about forestry workshops, community meetings, bark beetle
management tips and more!