Bark Beetles Killed More Trees Last Year

Bark beetles continued to kill more trees in Wyoming last year. The U.S. Forest Service and the Wyoming State Forestry Division say that the 2011 aerial survey of the state showed that an additional 167,000 acres of beetle-infested forest were found across the state. That brings the total infested acreage up to 3.3 million since the first signs of the outbreak in 1996. Beetles expanded their range on the Medicine Bow National Forest and adjacent private forest lands near Laramie last year. They also expanded into 68,000 acres in the Laramie Range near Casper and into another 28,000 acres in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. The Bighorn National Forest showed the lowest levels of mountain pine beetle activity among national forests in the state.