By Christi Lightcap
Special to The SUN
With summer here, many people will be packing up the tent and sleeping bags to enjoy all of Colorado’s great camping locations, and the Colorado Department of Agriculture is reminding outdoor enthusiasts to leave their firewood at home.
“Moving firewood across the state can contribute to tree mortality,” said Jeanne Ring, CDA’s cooperative agricultural pest survey coordinator. “Insects and diseases can be transported with the wood and can hurt or even kill Colorado’s forests.”
Native and non-native pests can have devastating effects on Colorado’s trees:
The mountain pine beetle is a native pest that has reached epidemic levels in the past decade. People are encouraged to not bring firewood down from the mountains to keep the beetle from spreading to urban areas. As of 2014, the pest has impacted approximately 3.4 million acres in Colorado.
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