[MCN] More Science finds beetle-killed forests surprisingly rich in biodiversity

[Matthew Koehler]

You wouldn’t know it listening to some of the ‘collaborative’ groups around
Montana that are attempting to dramatically increase industrial logging
across our National Forests, but according to research from the University
of Montana and elsewhere beetle-killed forests are rich in biodiversity and
a ‘bonanza’ for wildlife.

According to UM’s Dr. Diana Six, featured in the article below:

“The forests look devastated, and our gut feeling is ‘My God this has been
terrible, But if we step back and look at forest processes, sometimes just
standing back and not doing anything might be the best approach.”

This is just the latest scientific evidence to reach the same conclusion.
Compare the science with efforts by virtually every ‘collaborative’ group
in Montana that's not only trying to greatly increase logging, but groups
like the Montana Wilderness Association go one step forward and have
basically rebranded this industrial logging of forests as “restoration.”

Also, remember that last year when Governor Bullock used a secret, no
public notice no public input process to nominate 5 million acres of
national forests in Montana for ‘fast-track’ logging excluded from the
requirements of NEPA (via the Farm Bill), the major justification cited for
all the logging was to ‘restore’ the forests because of bark beetles and
other insects.

Please contact Montana's elected officials and let them know your views on
this situation. And if you care about science-based management of your
public lands, please remain active and vigilant, as the real threats to
America's public lands legacy are all around us.


*Beetle-kill zones surprisingly rich in biodiversity*
http://www.durangoherald.com/article/20160302/NEWS06/160309880/-1/news&source=RSS

The drive over Wolf Creek Pass, scarred by the spruce beetle outbreak, can
elicit strong emotions in the nature lover. Several logging sales may be on
the way, but new research suggests ravaged trees can create an ecologically
vital habitat worth saving.

Since 1996, nearly 588,000 acres in the Rio Grande National Forest and
120,000 acres in the San Juan National Forest have fallen prey to the
spruce beetle scourge. In its wake, the outbreak has left many questions
about how to best approach reforestation.

In February, Forest Service officials announced plans for a small salvage
sale of about 100 acres of dead spruce near Wolf Creek Pass, which could
expand to another 800 acres off of Wolf Creek and Falls Creek roads.

The federal agency will also consider a 900-acre sale in the Dolores Ranger
District, in the Taylor and Stoner Mesa areas, and evaluate the best sites
for salvage sales on forest land north of U.S. Highway 160 between the
Piedra River and Vallecito Lake.

The Forest Service has long maintained such timber sales benefit the health
of the ecosystem as it transitions from an old-growth to new-growth forest,
but research from the University of Montana, as well as several
conservation groups, challenges that idea.

A ‘bonanza’ for wildlife

“These areas where beetles killed trees is a really important habitat,
ecologically,” said Chad Hanson, director of the John Muir Project, a
nonprofit group opposed to salvage logging.

“It sounds counterintuitive, but for wildlife species, those areas are a
bonanza,” he said. “Science is telling us these habitats are every bit as
important as the forest before the kill-off.”

An infestation begins when a female spruce beetle finds a weak tree and
signals to more beetles to attack. The insects chew through the bark and
then enter a layer of the tree where they lay eggs in a network of tunnels.
The eggs hatch, the beetles grow up and fly away. Before leaving, the
mature beetles spread a special fungus in the center of the tree that
ultimately kills it.

But it’s what happens after that Hanson says is so important for the
ecosystem.

After the beetle moves on, woodpeckers feed on the larvae left behind,
which creates nest cavities in dead trees for other species – such as
bluebirds, chickadees and even squirrels – who are unable to make the safe
havens themselves.

Then come the wildflowers, which thrive on the exposed understory of the
forest, typically covered in shade. Flies and other insects arrive to feed
on the flowers, and in turn bring birds, bats and other small mammals,
which attract larger predators.

“What you end up with is a very rich and biodiverse ecosystem,” Hanson said.

Clark University associate professor Dominik Kulakowski agreed. He said the
result, a “snag forest,” is a favorable habitat for many invertebrates and
vertebrates because of the creation of canopy gaps and enhanced growth of
understory plants.

“Outbreaks create snags that may be used by various birds and mammals,
including woodpeckers, owls, hawks, wrens, warblers, bats, squirrels,
American marten and lynx,” Kulakowski said.

By removing the trees, you remove this process, both Hanson and Kulakowski
said.

Drought, temperatures drive outbreak

In her 2014 report for the University of Montana, entomologist Diana Six
said the long-standing method of thinning and salvaging does little to
reduce to risk of beetles spreading and forest fires.

Instead, underlying conditions – warmer temperatures and drought – are the
main drivers of those threats by allowing longer seasons for beetles to
thrive and weakening trees to fight infestation. What has resulted is the
largest outbreak of beetle kill recorded in human history.

“During an outbreak, these treatments are doomed to failure,” Six told The
Durango Herald. “If warm temperatures and drought are driving an outbreak,
by cutting trees you can’t reduce the outbreak because it doesn’t change
the conditions.”

Six said it’s human nature to want to do something to address the problem,
so methods like logging gain traction.

“The forests look devastated, and our gut feeling is ‘My God this has been
terrible,’” she said. “But if we step back and look at forest processes,
sometimes just standing back and not doing anything might be the best
approach.”

Protecting the understory

Gretchen Fitzgerald, a forester with the San Juan National Forest, said the
agency takes care to protect understory growth and do as little damage as
possible, but reforestation is complicated.

She estimated only 50 percent of trees on the 100-acre site on Wolf Creek
will actually be logged, and even that area is a small sliver of the entire
affected forest.

“There’s tens of thousands of acres of dead trees up there we are not
touching,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re just accessing areas close to roads.
It’s a place we can get to without too much environmental damage.”

The Forest Service acknowledges timber sales do little to prevent the
spread of beetle kill, but they can help clear out some areas prone to
forest fires.

Beetle kill is a natural process, Fitzgerald said, and though the outbreak
is intensified by climate change, it’s important to take the long view.

“It’s converting from an old forest to a young forest,” she said. “And just
because the overstory has died doesn’t mean you’ve lost biodiversity. It’s
not like it’s a dead forest.”

Reports last summer estimated that varying species of beetles despoiled 46
million of the country’s 850 million acres of forest land. Since 2001, more
than 50 bills have been introduced to promote timber sales to combat the
outbreak.
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