Firewood, slash & bugs: How to protect your personal forest & reduce wildfire risk

While late fall through early winter brings pleasant temperatures to work outside, it can also contribute to insect issues the following year. If lodgepole or ponderosa pines are cut without time to thoroughly dry before the following June, pine engraver (Ips) beetle populations can build to levels that are hazardous to trees. Pine engraver populations can build up in both limbs of ponderosa pines discarded from logging operations as well as in smaller diameter stems cut for fuels reduction.

Indications of Ips infestation include boring dust where beetles have entered logs or slash, as well as...