Boulder Ranger District to host Mountain Pine Beetle fest

02/25/2007 - NEDERLAND, Colo. - The Boulder Ranger District of the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest invites the public to attend an informational meeting on the Mountain Pine Beetle.

  The meeting will take place in Nederland, Colorado on Thursday, February 15, 2007 from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. in the Nederland Community Center Annex at the Caribou Shopping Center. The two-hour meeting will combine the open house format with formal presentations. The first and last half-hours of the meeting will allow attendees to interact with the speakers and ask questions, while the formal portion of the meeting will feature five to six speakers who will make presentations on various aspects of the Mountain Pine Beetle’s life cycle, effects on the ecosystem, and efforts to mitigate their effects.

  Featured speakers from the U.S. Forest Service will be Sheryl Costello, Regional Entomologist, and Deanna Williams, Wildlife Biologist. Kevin Zimlinghaus, South Zone Silviculturist, will also review upcoming proposals to mitigate Mountain Pine Beetle impacts.

  Allen Owen from the Colorado State Forest Service will make a presentation and answer questions about what private property owners should be doing on private land. Boulder County Parks and Open Space
will present an update on their mitigation efforts.

  The formal portion of the meeting will take place from 7:00-8:00 p.m. with the open house format beginning at 6:30 and 8:00 p.m. respectively.

  The Boulder Ranger District plans to have additional meetings in other mountain communities and in the city of Boulder this year and next. For more information, please call Laura Pramuk, Public Affairs Specialist at 303-245-6429 or Kevin Zimlinghaus, Silviculturist at 303-245-6415.