CBMR ramps up pine beetle management efforts

300 acres impacted, but working with Forest Service to mitigate

[  By Kendra Walker  ]

Mountain pine beetle activity has significantly impacted forested ski areas throughout Colorado. Both Wolf Creek and Monarch ski resorts have experienced notable forest transformation from beetle infestation. And in recent years, the beetles have unfortunately made their way to the Gunnison Valley, including at Crested Butte Mountain Resort. 

“Mountain operations staff was disheartened to learn that a mountain pine beetle infestation had hit approximately 300 acres of forest within the resort boundary, leaving resort management to face a challenge that held serious implications for fire danger, biodiversity and trail safety,” explained CBMR communications manager Katie Lyons. 

However, CBMR has partnered with the U.S. Forest Service to launch efforts to combat this issue in a step forward toward long-term resilience and sustainability for the mountain’s forest health.

Since 2019, both Amy Lockner and Suzanne Marchetti of the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison (GMUG) Forest Service’s regional Forest Health Protection (FHP) team in Gunnison have worked with CBMR and Joe Carlson, who manages the resort’s special use permit for GMUG, on the resort’s CBMR Vegetation Management Plan. “The plan includes detailed sampling of 205 plots across 92 stands across the special use permit boundary,” explained a USDA Forest Service spokesperson. The plan guides both immediate and long-term forest health efforts, with a strong focus on managing insect and disease challenges.

In 2023, the presence of mountain pine beetles was first noted at CBMR when aerial surveyors identified small, isolated clusters of dead lodgepole pine and subalpine fir on the mountain. In 2024, aerial surveys mapped beetle-related tree mortality primarily located near the East River lift, so that year Gunnison Ranger District timber staff distributed verbenone, an anti-aggregation pheromone in the lodgepole stands.

“Once we identified the pine beetle was killing trees on the mountain and knowing there’s been some endemic infestation happening in the area, we decided we needed to take further action,” said CBMR senior director of mountain operations Tucker Roberts. “We put together a task force and a plan on how to treat and minimize the spread of the pests. This was a project that we knew was very important to our forest health to keep the resort vibrant, alive and healthy, and able to provide a good product for our guests.”

Last fall, Roberts said the mountain operations team surveyed the mountain to get a good idea of the beetle numbers and the areas they were targeting. The crew worked on cutting and peeling the bark on trees to kill beetles to prevent them from spreading. “We identified some trees that were infested and cut some of those down as well,” he said. 

Roberts explained that once beetles have infested a tree and made their home in their nests, a tree might still look green and alive. “But then in the spring, the tree begins to show redding and signs of deterioration. They’ll remain standing for years and years but are essentially dead at this point.”

According to Roberts, the 300 acres of trees affected by the mountain pine beetle are located primarily in the East River area of the mountain including the Bakery Trees, Black Eagle and Resurrection. 

“Once we saw the scope and breadth of what we were dealing with, we decided to collaborate with the Forest Service to ramp up our mitigation efforts,” he said.

This past spring, the mountain operations team met with the Forest Service to better understand the treatment process and learn how to slow the process of pine beetle infestation. They decided to use verbenone pheromone packets, which are small three by five-inch green pouches that help deter and repel beetles before they can do more harm. “I can’t thank those Forest Service folks enough for their support and expertise and willingness to help,” said Roberts. “Joe Carlson and the whole team have been instrumental and a phenomenal asset to us.”

In June, Roberts said a crew of about 12 mountain operations members and 12 forest service representatives worked to deploy 2,000 pheromone packets and 1,000 green leaf volatile compounds (GLVs) on the areas of concern on the mountain. The GLV’s have an additive effect in deterring beetles away from lodgepole stands by mimicking trees that would not be host trees for the mountain pine beetle, such as aspen.

“We had a small army out there deploying packets,” said Roberts. 

The crews also set out traps – small, white inverted cone towers that contain pheromones in them to attract the bugs. “These are a good indicator as to how many pests were in the air in a particular season and at what point they flew,” he said. 

Mountain pine beetle flights typically occur from June to August each summer. “At this point they should have matured and flown and found another host,” said Roberts. The pheromone packets are good for one flight season and the crew plans to check the trees in September to monitor the beetle spread. “We will go back out and look to see where they’re out now, and at that point we can flag those trees. If we do find a high priority tree we know is infested, we’ll strip it and get an idea of infestation numbers. And then we’ll start to put together a plan for next year.”

Roberts explained that people recreating on CBMR this summer may have noticed the green packets stapled on the trees, but they are not harmful. “They do smell and have an oily finish on them, but they are not hazardous. We ask that if you do see these packets on the trees, please do not mess with them.”

Roberts hopes their efforts help to slow the beetle kill impacts, and he plans to continue this mitigation work in the future. “People will probably notice some of the devastation there, unfortunately. If you look at what has happened at Wolf Creek and the other side of Monarch Pass, that’s a very good indication of the potential these pests have to decimate a forest. Knowing our forest doesn’t look like that is a good sign. We will be continuing with this effort because we want to be good stewards of this land.” 

According to the Forest Service, the CBMR project is a small component in the context of a much larger mountain pine beetle epidemic in the area, which has also been found in Taylor Canyon, small pockets in the Slate River drainage and Oh Be Joyful, the town of Crested Butte, in Brush Creek and the upper Ohio Creek basin. 

“The long-term presence and variability of these beetle populations underscore the importance of proactive monitoring and forest health management across all ski areas in the region. Crested Butte, while spared to date, remains vulnerable as bark beetles continue to spread and adapt,” said a USDA Forest Service spokesperson. “Given CBMR’s geographic isolation from surrounding forests, natural barriers may help reduce beetle ingress. If beetle populations remain at current levels, targeted tactics such as applying verbenone, and manually peeling bark from infested trees to destroy developing larvae are expected to be effective and efficient. However, should beetle populations begin increasing rapidly, these methods may become insufficient. The good news is, CBMR has a diverse mix of forest species. Even if most of the mature lodgepole pine were lost, blue and Engelmann spruce, subalpine fir and aspen would likely persist and regenerate across the slopes, offering resilience despite the challenges of bark beetle management.”

Roberts is proud of how much investment his crew puts into the project. “This is our livelihood in the valley. This is their love and why they are here, and we are so invested in this project and process. That’s what’s driving my crew. They are out there identifying trees, stripping them and killing those pests. It’s such important work. I couldn’t be prouder seeing these individuals out there and working together to be great stewards of the resort and forest. I’m really proud to know we’ve created this culture.”