Forest health
Mountain pine beetle: spot it, report it, get it removed properly
Built for Colorado mountain residents. Track beetle activity on your own property and get connected with licensed, insured professionals who know that removal means more than cutting the tree down.
Mountain pine beetle is the defining forest health problem for a lot of Colorado mountain property, and the response usually goes wrong at the same point: the tree comes down, and the infested wood gets stacked in the sun next to the house.
That doesn't solve anything. The beetles under the bark are perfectly capable of finishing their cycle and moving to the next tree. Correct removal means handling the wood properly, and that's a job for someone who knows what they're doing.
How to spot an infestation
- Pitch tubes — popcorn-shaped resin blobs on the trunk where the beetle bored in.
- Boring dust — fine reddish sawdust in bark crevices and at the base of the tree.
- Fading crown — needles going yellow, then red, then grey, usually the year after attack.
- J-shaped galleries under the bark, running vertically then hooking.
Getting it removed properly
- Licensed and insured professionals only. Beetle work involves felling stressed trees, often near structures.
- The wood has to be handled, not stacked. Infested material left on site keeps the cycle going.
- Timing matters — treatment windows depend on the beetle's life cycle, not on your schedule.
- PineBeetle CO connects you with people who understand all three.
What's coming
- A risk map within the year, so you can see beetle pressure across your area rather than only on your own lot.
- Reports feed the same records the wildfire tools read — dead standing timber changes the fuel picture in FUELBREAK.
Common questions
How do I know if my trees have mountain pine beetle?
Look for pitch tubes — small popcorn-shaped resin blobs on the trunk — and fine reddish boring dust in the bark crevices or at the base. Crown colour comes later: needles fade yellow, then red, usually the year after the attack. By the time a tree is red, the beetles have already left it.
Can I just cut down the infested tree myself?
Felling it is only half the job. Beetles under the bark keep developing in cut wood, so infested material left stacked on site can still produce a new generation. Proper disposal — and the timing of it — is what actually breaks the cycle, which is why it's worth using someone who does this for a living.
Can a tree survive mountain pine beetle?
Once a tree has been successfully mass-attacked it generally doesn't survive; the beetles introduce a blue-stain fungus that blocks water transport. Management is about protecting the trees that haven't been hit, which is why finding it early matters.
How much does beetle tree removal cost in Colorado?
It varies with tree size, access, proximity to structures and how the wood has to be disposed of. Get more than one quote and make sure disposal is specified — that's the part that differs most between a proper job and a cheap one.
Is there a mountain pine beetle map for Colorado?
State and federal agencies publish aerial survey results at a broad scale. PineBeetle CO is adding a risk map within the year, built partly from resident reports, which fills in at a finer resolution than aerial survey reaches.
Start here
Model the risk first: FUELBREAK
Dead standing timber changes the fuel picture, and the fuel picture drives fire behavior. FUELBREAK reads the same records your beetle reports feed.
See what FUELBREAK does