Pine-beetle-killed trees aren't a pretty sight no matter what Texans say

Driving through Montana last week, I saw worrisome splotches of red in the thick stands of trees on some hillsides -- not the fires of dry summers past, but the first signs that the pine beetles that have plagued Colorado are moving north. Heading south through Wyoming into Colorado, those...

By Patricia Calhoun

August 5, 2011

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Driving through Montana last week, I saw worrisome splotches of red in the thick stands of trees on some hillsides -- not the fires of dry summers past, but the first signs that the pine beetles that have plagued Colorado are moving north. Heading south through Wyoming into Colorado, those splotches turned into entire mountains of dying trees.

Which reminded me of this I-swear-it's-true story: A friend was showing some Texans around Summit County, which has been hit hard by pine beetles, and the wife kept exclaiming about the beautiful scenery.

"And those red trees -- I think they're the prettiest of all," she pronounced.

I was reminded of that story, and the sad sight of the spread of the pine beetle infestation, by Bruce Finley's excellent, if wonky, Denver Post story on sawmills processing the lumber from beetle-killed lodgepole pines from 4 million acres in Colorado and Wyoming. Read it here.

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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