Forest Stewardship Tip of the Day: Cleaning up storm damaged trees

*BE CAREFUL OUT THERE! The windstorm caused many trees to “hang up” in neighboring trees and it also broke large branches that are now hanging ready to fall. Keep your eyes up and make sure you are aware of your surroundings; the damaged trees can come down without warning!* 

The wind storm that blew through the county last weekend caused significant damage to many trees in the foothills (especially around Nederland and north Gilpin County). It is recommended that landowners work to clean up damaged trees over the next few months and by early spring at the latest. Storm damaged trees are highly susceptible to attack by several species of bark beetles. Ips and twig bark beetle infestation are the biggest concern and trees that were uprooted will most likely be infested by these beetles when they start flying again in the spring. The uprooted trees are highly susceptible because they are now extremely weakened and are sending stressed “smells” out in the forest that beetles hone in on. In addition, if possible it is recommended that you prune off large branches that were partially broken in the storm. 

Slash Management:
The Gilpin County slash site just south of Nederland will reopen to collect storm damaged slash and logs for a limited time. Boulder residents can haul material to the Gilpin County slash site for a small fee.  Visit http://co.gilpin.co.us/Maintenance%20and%20Trash/trashdefault.htm to find out complete details. You should act fast because their yard will only be open through Nov. 27. You can also rent or hire someone to chip the slash. Lastly, if you keep the slash on site make sure to stack it in a sunny location away from trees and your home so that it doesn’t add to fire danger. Hopefully, the slash will sufficiently dry before ips and twig beetles begin flying again next spring. 

Log Management:
Logs from green healthy trees (not infested with mountain pine beetle) can be kept as firewood or else hauled to a disposal site. If keeping logs for firewood you can help reduce the likelihood of ips and twig beetle infestation by helping facilitate rapid drying of the logs. You should loosely stack the logs in a sunny open location that ideally doesn’t get covered with snow. Ips and twigs might still infest the logs in the spring; but that is unfortunately always a risk associated with storing green firewood on site. Lastly, it is never a good idea to use healthy standing trees as end supports for green log piles. Stacking against living trees will increase the likelihood of beetles infesting those trees.  

Publications:

• Here is a link to a Colorado State Forest Service publication that outlines proper pruning techniques for storm damaged trees: http://csfs.colostate.edu/pdfs/Storm_Damage_Quick_Guide.pdf
• Here is a link to an Ips beetle management publication: http://csfs.colostate.edu/pdfs/Ips.pdf

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