Is there some natural predator for these beetles? Some woodpecker, maybe? High time to start breeding up a bunch of woodpeckers, and even feed them when there are not enough bettles around.
If we could make gasoline out of these beetles like that guy did with all those dead cats, we'd be in business!
The bark beetle attacks trees weakened by overpopulation. Logging reduces the stress on the ecosystem by thinning trees - thus keeping the forest healthier.
Of course the other natural predator of Bark Beetle is FIRE!
Forest management requires one or the other...logging vs. fire. The eviro wackos think fire is the "natural" option.
With a passionate anti-logging climate, foresters were obligated to keep their trees standing, even though it would have been healthier to cut some down...
Some smaller patches logged and replanted in the 1970s and '80s are healthy and resisting the beetle. But there are few of those groves.
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20050920/NEWS/109200022
Yes, but we have only the one, and he works round the clock. He gets the worms, but also removes the bark, which kills the tree anyway.