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Meetings & Events Meetings Archive 2006 Meetings Gary Drescher reports on the pine beetle issue
Meetings & Events Meetings Archive 2006 Meetings Gary Drescher reports on the pine beetle issue
Gary Drescher reports on the pine beetle issue
In Attendance
- Sandy Briggs Our Future Summit
- Gary Drescher Buffalo Mountain Metro District/Wildernest
- Bob French Summit County Commissioner
- Howard Hallman Our Future Summit
- Jon Harrington Alpine Gardens
- Steven Hill Summit County Special Projects Manager
- Tom Jones Acorn Creek HOA
- Vince Lanuza Town of Silverthorne/ Eagle's Nest HOA
- Karn Stiegelmeier Friends of the Lower Blue River
Of 2200 units in the district, about 1900 are covered by a homeowners association. The thirty attendees at the meeting represented over 50% of these units.
The Metro District has allocated $60,000 for the collection, chipping and removal of some 900 beetle-killed or infested trees and related slash this summer. Homeowners will be responsible for delivering their wood to within ten feet of a roadside. The chipped product is intended for use at the Climax Mine reclamation project.
Vince Lanuza described a mandatory preventative spraying program in effect at Eagle's Nest in Silverthorne. He added that a covenant there directs that infested or dead trees must be removed at property owner's expense.
Jon Harrington recounted a spraying program on the Frisco peninsula during the 1980-81 pine beetle infestation that was 97% effective. Jon stressed the need to regularly log and thin stands to encourage age diversity in the forest and thus promote forest health.
Karn Stiegelmeier noted that the Forest Service now allows owners whose property is adjacent to public land to apply for a permit to cut up to ten cords of firewood in the National Forest at long as it is not sold.
Steve Hill reported on the progress of the Summit County Wildfire Council, whose formation is part of our Community Wildfire Protection Plan. All local communities except Montezuma, Blue River and Copper Mountain now have representation on the Council.
The Council plans to hold public meetings in each of the four watershed areas in Summit County: Upper Blue (Breckenridge/Blue River); Lower Blue (Silverthorne/Heeney); Snake River (Dillon/Keystone/Montezuma) and Ten Mile (Frisco/Copper Mountain)
Sandy Briggs announced that the Summit Daily News has agreed in principle to partner with the task force in developing a special section/insert that serve as a guide for Living with Drought, Fire and the Pine Beetle. The publication will be similar to a brochure prepared by the Santa Fe (New Mexico) Pinion Initiative Steering Group. Please click on www.santafetrees.com for reference.
Depending on the size of the section (4 or 8 pages) and print quantity (15,000 to 20,000 copies), the production cost of the project could range between $1,400 and $2,500.
We anticipate that costs can be offset through advertising (a directory of tree service companies) as well as through contributions from the county and interested towns. Bob French indicated that Summit County would be interested in becoming a financial contributor.