Expert Panel Discussion on Mountain Pine Beetles to be Held at Colorado State University April 17
Note to Editors: A live Webcast will be available of the discussion. To access the panel discussion online, users will need Windows Media Player on their computers and a high-speed Internet connection. The following link will broadcast the Webcast: mms://cope.colostate.edu/csu_live. Questions received through e-mail during the event will be forwarded to the moderator. The e-mail address will be announced the night of the discussion.
Colorado State University’s Student Association for Fire Ecology and the C.P. Gillette Entomology Club will host a public panel discussion on mountain pine beetle and its effects on forests, particularly in regard to potential for catastrophic fire, on April 17.
Colorado’s lodgepole pine forests are fire-adapted ecosystems where infrequent fires typically play a major role in regeneration. These forests also are home to mountain pine beetle, a native insect species that causes mortality in weakened trees. The highly visible beetle-killed lodgepole stands across Colorado forests have thrust this ecological process into the public consciousness, raising fears of extreme wildfires and negative socio-economic impacts.
The discussion will focus on current and future research and management directions for lodgepole pine forests. The event is free and open to the public and will take place from 6-7:30 p.m. April 17 in the Cherokee Park Ballroom of the Lory Student Center on Colorado State’s campus.
The expert panel includes researchers and land managers with experience in forest ecology, entomology, fire management, fire ecology and the social dimensions of fire. Each of the experts will offer a brief statement, and then the audience may ask questions.
The event will be cast live online, and people will be able to send questions for consideration by the panel.
The moderator will be Dan Binkley, a professor of forest ecology in the Department of Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Stewardship and the director of the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute. A list of panelists follows.
– Jessica Clement, social scientist and forest ecologist in the Department of Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Stewardship
– Paul Mintier, fire management officer for the Sulphur Ranger District of the USDA Forest Service
– Jose Negron, entomologist for the Rocky Mountain Research Station of the USDA Forest Service
– Bill Romme, fire ecologist in the Department of Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Stewardship and Colorado Forest Restoration Institute
– Bob Sturtevant, forester for the Colorado State Forest Service
The event is sponsored by Associated Students of Colorado State University, the Department of Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Stewardship and the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute.
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