Protect Your SnowHome from Pine Beetles

They say the drought has brought this on.  In large part, dry climates support intruders such as pine beetles, now the scourge of the Rocky Mountains.  Drive our highways and you can see large areas that appear red in color, mountainsides covered with dead trees.  They have been infected with pine beetles, little bugs that live inside the trees and kill them from the inside out. 

The scary part is that one infected tree can be contagious.  Nearby trees have a high chance of also getting infected.  That's what makes the beetle surveyors so important.  It is their job to inspect trees and mark those known to be infected.  The focus at this point is private property.  Once trees are identified and marked, a homeowner bears the responsibility of arranging removal of the tree before early June, when the larvae mature and take flight. 

It may seem like an - uh, unseemly - job, and no one really wants to bear that expense, but this investment is small compared to the damage that can be wrought.  It's your SnowHome.  Protect its value by protecting the health of its environment.