Another beetle thinning ponderosa pine in BHNF

Aspen, Rocky Mountain juniper, white spruce and bur oak were at least as abundant as ponderosa pine was in the Black Hills during pre-settlement times. But today second growth ponderosa pine is overrunning parts of the Black Hills National Forest and stressing water supplies. 

A century and a half of poor ranching and land management practices have created an unnatural overstory best controlled by the mountain pine beetle, prescribed fires and periodic wildfires. The BHNF is trying to restore limber pine (Pinus flexilis) in the Norbeck Wildlife Preserve but native Douglas fir and lodgepole pine are virtually extirpated from the Hills. 

Now, another insect called the Ips engraver beetle is culling trees that are highly stressed by drought conditions. According to Kurt Allen, an entomologist for the US Forest Service in Region 2 impacts from the Ips beetle typically only last for two or three years but pine trees that are completely brown or red are dead and the beetle has moved on. The Forest Service generally allows the beetle to run its course and doesn't treat affected stands. Bark beetles shape water supplies throughout the Mountain West.

As many readers are aware the first US Forest Service timber sale took place in the Black Hills near Nemo but only after nearly all the old growth of every native tree species had been cleared for mine timbers, railroad ties and construction. 

Learn more about ponderosa pine overgrowth and stress on Black Hills aquifers linked here.