COLORADO, Colo. — A disease is killing trees in Park and Teller counties.
According to the U.S. Forest Service, “dwarf mistletoe,” is becoming an issue as they try to fight it off from killing trees in Colorado.
The disease is slow moving, but very persistent and requires active resistance to be stopped.
The U.S .Forest Service fights the disease by marking healthy trees in orange paint, and leaving the infected trees unmarked. Crews will then come in and remove the unmarked trees.
The disease poses such a threat because it attacks the tree's nutrients which causes it to dry up, and become potential fuel for wildfire.
"If a fire comes through, it's just going to destroy everything and it's going to sterilize the soil," said Andrew Larson, the mediator between the U.S. Forest Service, and the contractors who remove the trees.
While they may never fully combat diseased trees, it is imperative that they try to gain as much control in the battle to minimize the risk of disaster.
"I don't think we'll ever get rid of, you know, all the diseases, of course, in the forest," said Ryan Harlow, a member of the Forest Service. "Certain years we may have more insect disease hits. I think our goal really is to in general have a better situation where we can fend off these attacks."
This year the U.S. Forest Service is going to harvest nearly 2,000 acres of forest near Lake George, as they look to combat the pesky disease.
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