SAD trees, happy beetles in Colorado

That's Sudden Aspen Decline. Coupled with the Pine Beetle devastation, the Rocky Mountains are undergoing quite a transformation. Pretty much all of the mature lodgepole pine forests in Colorado and southern Wyoming are expected to die.

Of course, these things happen from time to time throughout history. Some of the forests in the Eastern US have gone through a few different transformations where once dominate species have died off (usually logged out) and have been replaced with other species. Up here, one might expect aspen to quickly fill in, but now with the SAD situation.... I'm sure something will fill in, although I've seen some pretty bare mountains in some of our more Western states, so we'll have to wait and see. It will take quite some time for the next generation of pines to mature.

There are efforts under way to harvest the wood before it gets rotten. Some is being ground into pellets for wood stoves, mulched for newsprint (until the newspapers all go under :) and used for lumber. The goal is to clear the dead forests before we have some huge forest fires. Given the extent of the dead trees, I think we can expect some of those fires.

Photos of the damage: Aspen - Pines

Take a look at this Google Maps image of Dillon, CO for a vivid illustration of the extent of the damage. Zoom in on the forest to the right of the town. All the brown spots are dead trees.