Part Two: Drought, plague and fire: What one Colorado forest is up against
There’s no certainty swaths of beetle-bitten trees will recover over burn scars
RIO GRANDE NATIONAL FOREST— New growth pushes up from the understory of a burned aspen grove at the Rio Grande headwaters. (Photo by Diana Cervantes for Source NM)
Beetle-bitten fir and spruce, along with burn-scarred aspens, are part of the fabric of the forest around the Rio Grande headwaters. Forests across the western U.S. are facing a triple threat, weakened by drought, decimation from pests and devastation from wildfires. (Photo by Diana Cervantes for Source NM)
“Extreme drought over the last two decades has been a catalyst for pests which have laid waste to millions of acres of larger spruce trees in the Rio Grande National Forest”
Bark falls away from a dead Engelmann Spruce tree, exposing beetle trails and the tree’s vulnerable vascular system. (Photo by Diana Cervantes for Source NM)