Bark beetles, drought killing trees

RUIDOSO, N.M. (KRQE) - Thousands of trees in New Mexico are dying a slow death, their killers a miniscule insect called a bark beetle.

Forest and fire officials met Tuesday with a lot of worried people in Ruidoso to address questions and concerns.

Though it's not easy to notice from the outset, thousands of acres of trees are being infested with bark beetles . Not only are the beetles spreading in the Sacramento Mountains, they're creating more of a fire danger.

"Right now we're looking at the mortality of thousands of ponderosa pine trees, Douglas fir and white fir trees," explained Dan Ware of the New Mexico State Forestry Division.

The beetles are tiny bugs, but they're causing a huge amount of damage in an area already hit hard by the drought.

"When the trees are stressed like this, that creates an opportunity for widespread infestation, and when there's widespread infestation, the beetles multiply," Ware said.

Residents packed the room at the Ruidoso Convention Center Tuesday afternoon when New Mexico State Forestry officials met with them to let them know what's going on.

It's problem that may seem small to pinpoint with the naked eye, but brown dots on an aerial map on display showed just how widespread the beetle infestation has grown.

"There's too much vegetation for the small amount of water that's available," explained Ware. Ware said that's when bark beetles attack, killing off nutrients and sap trees use as defense.

Ware said an infestation like this is not necessarily preventable, but there are things people can do to help save their trees.

"If they can provide water, whether it's from a rain barrel to catch any snow runoff or rain that we might get, to setting up an irrigation system, a drip irrigation system to supplement the natural water," Ware said.

Forestry officials are also worried about the dead trees falling down; something they said can easily happen in high winds.

Ware said he and others hope the meeting will prompt residents to take action.

"There is a science behind properly treating land and that's where State Forestry, the U.S. Forest Service, the village of Ruidoso forestry office, that's where all of these entities come in to play," said Ware.

Telltale signs a tree is infested with bark beetles are leaves or needles starting to lose their color and turning brown.

More information can be found at the United State Forest Service Health website. Information is also available on the Lincoln National Forest and New Mexico State Forestry Division websites.