If you've spent time in Colorado, you've probably noticed patches of dead trees on various hillsides around the state. In this episode of the OutThere Colorado Podcast, Spencer chats with Wesley Manney, the Founder and Director of The Mountain Pine Beetle Foundation. Their discussion covers the threat of pine beetles in Colorado and the devastation this insect species can cause – both in the backcountry and in your own neighborhood. Also discussed is what locals can do to protect their own trees and their greater community. Wesley Manney's organization offers property evaluations and more, with information available at mountainpinebeetle.org.
[00:00:06] Welcome to another interview episode of The OutThere Colorado Podcast. Today we are sitting down with Wesley Manny, who is the founder and director of the Mountain Pine Beetle Foundation. People in Colorado, if you've been hiking for, you know, around any trails at all, whatsoever it seems like these days, you've seen the dead trees that are just kind of dotting the hillside around a lot of the state.
[00:00:30] Pretty scary stuff when you consider just the overall risk to those trees and just the overall fire risk that comes with that as well. So the pine beetle is to blame for a lot of that. Wesley's an expert on that topic and is going to be chatting with us today about just the overall problem and kind of what people are doing to try to counteract that. But yeah, welcome to the show.
[00:00:56] Well, thanks for having me. I'm very excited to do this and try to educate and get a message out there as much as we can. Yeah, you reached out and this is something I've been curious about just for years, you know, just living in Colorado for more than a decade now. And, you know, it's noticeable. You go up some of those mountain passes and there's just massive swaths of land that are just dead trees. And it's good to know that some people are doing something about it, you know, and you hear stories about what's happening.
[00:01:25] But before we get into that, you want to tell us a little bit about yourself? So I have a history in anything, the tree world, arboriculture would be the technical term. But I've transitioned into disaster relief. That's my main profession. So large scale government projects, things of that nature.
[00:01:46] And when this started to become a problem here is when I decided that I wanted to try to tackle it from a different angle of setting up the nonprofit, trying to help people as much as I possibly can. So it's in my wheelhouse and it's what I do, but just trying from a different angle. And so hopefully there's some government funds that come in potentially to help.
[00:02:08] Yeah, I wanted to ask one of my questions that I had written down was kind of what inspired you to start the nonprofit and like what was that like catalyst moment? It's kind of a passion thing, to be honest. You know, I have a particular set of skills that I want to be able to share. And a lot of people can't afford to mitigate their problems. And that is not the major reason of spreading, but it definitely adds to it.
[00:02:37] When you have a neighborhood that may be lower income, may be elderly and on a fixed income or whatever it may be, they have these dead trees. And all of a sudden it's one or two, then next year it's five to 10. And then the, after that, the whole neighborhood is infected and we lose everything. So if these people could afford to deal with their problem, they know their trees are dead.
[00:03:04] Educating on what signs to look for, for active infected tree, that's a whole different thing. But around dead pine trees, there's going to be infected ones also. So, you know, if we can help them on the affording side, then getting it done is the easier side for me. So that was the main drive and goal of the nonprofit. Yeah, very cool.
[00:03:30] So to kind of step back a little bit and maybe look at like the big picture of the problem, and I know that's a big question, but like to somebody who might not be aware, you know, maybe they've seen the dead trees on the hillsides or something like that, or a dead tree in their neighborhood. But to someone who's not aware of what's going on, would you mind kind of just providing that big picture context for us? Of course. So I've spoken a lot with the Colorado State Forest Service, different professionals here as well.
[00:03:58] And the drought is the major driving factor of the beetle right now. This beetle is a native bug. It's from here. It's always been here. The reason that we see these larger outbreaks is the trees have natural defense mechanisms. They can pitch these beetles out and they can suffocate them in their pitch. But during a drought, a tree is going to have less pitch. It's also going to be a little bit thicker and it doesn't flow fast enough.
[00:04:24] So the beetle is able to get through with these major areas that we see. The beetle wants to fly. It doesn't want to, but that's mountain pine beetle is a good flying insect. They also can sense trees that are stressed out. So when a tree in typical non-drought seasons, the tree might be 500 yards away that it has to go find. And so it has to take flight. Birds might get it.
[00:04:54] Other predatory insects might get it. It might not make it to that tree. If they're all stressed, then the beetle has to go five feet away and there's the next tree. So there's other beetles like Douglas fir beetle. They're not great flyers. They're not going to, they're more clumped typically than a mountain pine beetle would be. And that's why you also see where you don't have any dead trees and then you see one clump up on a mountainside.
[00:05:23] Those beetles did fly there. Once they land into a tree, they release a pheromone that attracts other beetles as well. So they say, Hey, I found a good tree. They all get attracted to it. So it's a multi-stage attack on the tree at once. It's like a small army. Yeah. No, I've never heard it broken down like that before. That's a, that's a great explanation. To what extent is this problem in Colorado? It's, it's a growing one.
[00:05:52] I believe it's around 5,500 affected acres at the moment. That was from, I believe last year's data. Um, I don't think they've taken a flight again to assess everything this year and the beetles are in their flight season at the moment. It's on the tail end of it. Um, so it's really hard to tell from a Cessna what's infected. We can tell what's dead, but we don't know what around that area is going to be infected.
[00:06:20] That's going to die next year. So it takes a full season for the tree to die. Um, dang it's that quick though. Just one season. Right. So the, when the beetle flies in, they do damage, um, through the cambium layer and everything else structurally. Not great for the tree, but ultimately what kills the tree is going to be a fungus that they carry that goes systemic, blocks all nutrients. And that's what kills it. But that takes around six, eight months for that to happen. Wow.
[00:06:48] Um, so I guess, uh, to kind of keep digging into the risk. Um, so why, aside from the fact that trees are dying, right? Like, like what's that next risk that comes with so many dead trees? So the obvious one is fire. Um, so I, I've worked with a lot of police chief or fire chiefs as well. They, from a standing dead tree from a fire risk, if it has brown needles on it from a canopy fire aspect, it's around a hundred.
[00:07:18] Once those needles fall off, it drops down significantly from the fire risk standpoint. Um, probably in like that 50 to 65 range, but when that tree falls and then it's ground fuel, the fire risk goes up one from a ground fire to from just personnel being able to access the area where the fire is. So right now with all these brown needle trees, we have standing matchsticks. Yes. Everywhere. Um, it doesn't take much. Yeah.
[00:07:46] It makes sense about how long does it usually take for the needles to fall? A year. Yeah. A year. Um, a little bit depends on the environment, how much wind, um, a lot of things, but, uh, around a year, maybe a year and a half. Yeah. And that's probably, I mean, people definitely notice that when they're looking up at the hillside, they see the green trees, then they see kind of that like reddish brown. And then you see a gray and that's the fall. Yeah. Yeah. And that's the, and it's a fall risk on trails too. Like with how much wind we get out here, I would imagine. The blow down is real. Yeah. Problematic.
[00:08:16] Every year we'll cover a story of somebody getting hit by a falling tree. Yeah. About, about once a year. On a trail, just walking. Windy day. Um, something happens and the outcomes are pretty, they vary quite a bit. Oh, sure. Depending on what happens. But, uh, we've definitely covered stories of people dying from falling trees before. I've seen what trees do to houses and all cars and all sorts of things. People underestimate it. They do. It's a lot of weight. And so your background, uh, being in, uh, what do you, what did you call it?
[00:08:46] The arbor culture? Arbor culture. Yeah. So, uh, do you have experience with like, uh, chopping down trees and everything? I was a production climber for 10 years. So, um, yeah. Fair hands on and doing contracts there. And also, you know, residential commercial tree work. And not to, not to totally switch the subject off of this, but I've always been curious what that's like. Cause you're using all this climbing gear. And, uh, I mean, as a rock climber, like I kind of find it fascinating.
[00:09:10] So we actually stole a lot of rock climbing gear, um, at the beginning, you know, we had like gris gris and like prosic hitches and everything else. It's advanced now, now that there's technology going into that world. We have our own designated ascenders, descenders. They're multifunctional. Um, it is, it's very similar in a lot of ways, but very different than others. It's a lot of, um, physics, a lot of, especially with rigging.
[00:09:38] Um, you have different dynamics you're working with loads, weight, um, angles, all the things. So it can be very complex. It can also be really straightforward. It depends on the tree and every tree is very different. So, um, every day was kind of different in that world of, you never knew what you were getting into. Oh, I bet. Just from the problem solving side of things like, uh, uh, uh, uh, two chambers and arbors come over and chop down some of my stuff and maintain it and everything. And so it was just so fascinating. Just watch.
[00:10:07] And also the speed that it's done is mind blowing to me. Like, um, do you rock climb or did you have any experience there? I bouldered a few times, but that's really the extent of it. Um, um, I weigh a lot for rock climbing, but so, and like rock walls and things like that. Um, but never out in nature. I would like to eventually, um, something that's on the list. Yeah. I can see where the crossover would be where it's, you know, you gotta enjoy being high up in something. A lot of tree climbing is you're on rope.
[00:10:37] Um, so, you know, sometimes, yes, you are holding your full weight, but you can cheat and use the rope a good bit. Um, so it's helpful. Yeah. Especially for the bigger guys. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, yeah. But, um, that's awesome. Uh, yeah. That was just kind of my personal interest in that. I always see the videos and I'm like, it looks so, it looks like a, uh, rewarding career path too, just because it's a very hard one, but it is rewarding. Yeah. Uh, yeah. You, you sleep well at night. That's for sure.
[00:11:06] So, um, to kind of get back to, uh, the, the pine beetle problem. Um, what is the approach whenever somebody, let's say somebody has like a dead tree in their backyard or something. And, uh, like what, what are those steps? Like, I guess kind of in the residential area, which it sounds like you're dealing with a lot of that, but then also in forest service land, like how, right. What are we doing? Right. So residential was, you know, someone notices that they have a dead pine tree.
[00:11:34] Um, you can obviously contact me, but you can also, if you have an arborist that you work with or a tree guy, the sooner, the better you call them. Um, I would, you know, get someone out to assess what you have. And then, especially if the tree is active, um, then you want to get removed as soon as possible. This stage in time, you do have a, you know, six months before those beetles fly again. But the earlier, you know, someone come in to remove that tree is, is always better.
[00:12:03] Um, there's never a bad time to cut an infected tree. There are better times though, to do it. Um, and you, you're pushing into that, that June, July area. Um, I would still recommend to cut it, but those larva are turning into beetles at that point in time. If we disturb the tree, they could fly, um, while we're cutting them. Um, still better to cut it than to not.
[00:12:30] Um, and, but it's better to do it now to February, um, is when it's best. So, so basically like from a residential standpoint, um, get someone out there to take a look. And then often is it always going to mean getting rid of the tree or is there any sort of like treatment that people can do? There, there are a few treatments. There's also preventative treatments. We can get to that.
[00:12:53] Um, when a tree is infected, I know of one system that you can do. It's a micro injection of a pesticide and a fungicide together. It has a low rate of success, um, depending on how badly and how long the tree has been infected. Um, but it's a fairly expensive process and I would, I would give it 50%. I might be wrong in that.
[00:13:22] It might be closer to 75 with the science, but, um, I haven't actually seen it work, but I've never applied it either. So, um, once a tree is infected, depending, so you can have pitch tubes on a tree and it not actually be infected. So there's unsuccessful attempts. That's that tree actually defending itself, which is a good thing. Typically on that tree, you're only going to see one to maybe five pitch tubes.
[00:13:48] And when you peel off that pitch, you won't see a hole underneath it. You will actually usually find the beetle somewhere in that pitch. If you see a hole behind the pitch, that means it was successful and the beetle got through. Um, and when you look for pitch tubes, if they're very dry, that means it was from the previous year because they've had a chance to dry out.
[00:14:12] Um, but if they're still very moist and sticky, like pine sap, then that's going to be a fresh hit. Um, and that's what people are going to start seeing soon is more of that fresh hit because the beetles are in the bottom. So. Very interesting. Um, but from the residential standpoint, what can people do to prevent? Um, so there, there's some natural ways. Um, there's a product called bourbon. Bourbon is a pheromone.
[00:14:41] When I was saying the beetle releases a pheromone to attract other beetles, they also release a pheromone that says that the tree is done and that they're going to leave. So they replicated that one and you can apply it either via pouches. So it's small plastic bag full of pheromone coated. Usually it's like a, there's a packet in there of the pheromone. There's also a product called splat.
[00:15:08] That's more like a very large caught gun that you can apply to your trees. Um, effectiveness. I would give it probably 75 to 85%. Um, it doesn't kill the beetle. It does push it off to another tree, but again, it makes the beetle fly. And that's like, you know, people I've talked with say forest service, they're in a grants, making them fly is better. You can also spray your trees.
[00:15:35] Um, spraying is not my favorite. Um, I, that's just my opinion. It doesn't mean that it isn't scientifically a viable option. Um, but I don't think spraying our forest with a broad spectrum insecticide is the right answer to this problem. Um, so the spraying they use usually product called permethrin. They spray the whole tree. It's a contact killer.
[00:16:04] As soon as the beetle hits it, it will die most of the time. Um, and then there's also an injection that you can do. That's a insecticide. That's a very expensive process. Um, but it can help up to two to three years. Problem with the injection is that we're in a drought and that injection has to flow through the tree systemically. So there's not a lot of water, then it's not going to flow very well.
[00:16:32] So, um, watering the trees beforehand would be a good idea, not promoting watering during a drought, but if you're going to do it, then that's what you would need to do. Um, and again, that cost is more, but it does offer a longer protection, um, range.
[00:16:50] And I would only promote that typically with like a high value tree, maybe close to your house, one that gives you shade all summer, whatever it may be that you're like, I really want to protect this one. Then go for it. Um, cause it does work. So what, so what about on the, the larger scale in terms of like, like what does the forest service do to mitigate some of this? Um, I believe they do use.
[00:17:16] So from a, a residential side, they, they will do some property valuations. I do believe that they either facilitate or they will do verbanone, um, as well. And then on public land or forest land, um, I think there are some organizations that will go out and do some verbanone stuff out there, but really it's getting the infected trees out.
[00:17:42] Um, that's how we stop the spread is actually removing them. So what, what's that first sign? Like in terms of like a remote tree, just out in the middle of nowhere, you said it sometimes can take a little while to notice that a tree's infected. So like, how do they go about that? So usually, so when I do it, um, on large properties, I use a drone and I fly and I find where the dead trees are.
[00:18:07] If it's a very large property that way, I can at least focus because they're going to, the infected ones are going to be around that as well. Typically there might be a straggler here and there that are, you know, offset, but it's a great place to start. And that's typically what they do is they find an area that has a lot of infection. Then they kind of work out from there to find the infected trees that were actively infected and, you know, potentially remove them.
[00:18:32] But I, I don't at this time, I don't think that there are a lot of projects focused on this at the moment. I think that can change in the near future, but right now it's been mostly forest health, which is very important. You know, if we actually thin our forests, do the proper things, then the, the trees are going to be healthier right now. They're competing a lot. You know, we, we suppress fires. We have droughts.
[00:18:59] We have all these things that would naturally thin a forest that are just happening now. So, um, yeah, there's only so much water for all of them to share and with zero ice pack or snow pack, it's not, not helping. Yeah. Worst, worst year on record, at least, uh, with, with the day that goes back to whatever, 1987 or something with that.
[00:19:21] But yeah, um, scary stuff out there, uh, in terms of that, how long do you think, um, the impacts of that drought will be seen when it comes to tree health? So for the, from the tree perspective, and this is loose science, but I would say we need at least two to three good years of weather rain, like raining an hour every afternoon is only doing so much.
[00:19:49] Um, you know, the roads are dusty the next day and you know, it's, we need that thick snow pack and for consecutive years to do that. The, the cold weather is something that can definitely slow down the beetle, but it needs to be really cold for an extended period of time. Um, like negative 10 for a couple of weeks.
[00:20:13] Um, we might see a decrease just from that, but I don't foresee that happening anytime soon in most areas. Yeah. That's interesting how it's like, uh, you know, like most wildlife struggles when it's in drought, but the pine beetle, apparently not the case. It's flourishing. Yeah. Um, so let's maybe talk a little bit about like the economic impact of, uh, of this issue that Colorado is facing and other, and multiple other states, right? Like a dozen or so. Yeah.
[00:20:41] There's many type of pine beetles, conifer beetles. There's, they're, they're all over the state, well, at least the Western side, different pests on the East coast. Um, but from property value is probably one of the biggest ones. Um, you know, we have properties that are full of trees. They're beautiful. And then they get hit with a bunch of mountain pine beetle.
[00:21:07] And then if they go to try to sell their house, they're going to have 30 dead trees on the property. And that's obviously going to get taken off and it's very expensive to get them removed. Yeah. Um, insurance is another thing. Um, a lot of people that I've spoken with, their insurance rates have gone through the roof because of aerial footage that insurance companies can see and say, Hey, we've got, you know, all of this, these dead trees around your house.
[00:21:34] They might be, you know, 500 yards away, but it's still going to affect your rate a little bit. And some people are seeing 130% increase from that. Um, and yeah, I mean the, the property value is definitely one of the bigger ones. Um, especially evergreen, um, Bailey pine it's there. It's just getting wiped out. Um, and you know, people move to those mountains because it's beautiful.
[00:22:03] Um, and we've all seen, you know, drive down the road and seeing a, uh, scorched mountainside and not to say it doesn't have its own aspect of beauty, but it's, it's very different. Um, so you know that, and then this doing it and sell itself is expensive. Um, and at the moment, you know, fuel prices, all tree equipment runs off diesel. Um, you know, six 50 a gallon or whatever it may be.
[00:22:34] It adds to that price in the end. Um, and then some homeowners are facing. You know, one stage where they get their trees on and the next year they have more. And the next year they have more because their neighbors can't do anything. Um, so they're defending their space, but the guy next to them isn't. And then they just come back on over. And so it's a year after year after year.
[00:23:00] I'm like Jefferson County is, has done really well with putting out some, some grants for, um, people live there with reimbursement programs, things like that. Um, that have helped tremendously, I think, but it, uh, those large areas still need to be dealt with because they are the ones that are the super spreaders of this scenario. So I'd imagine there's probably, has there ever been any talk about like mandating, uh, taking care of trees that are impacted or.
[00:23:29] I'm not sure. I I'm just now swimming through the political channels of things. Um, and I do think that would be hard to do. Um, I've done private property, um, stuff in North Carolina after that was funded through the government. And once things are funded, it's really easy to get people to get it done. Um, and that's really where that nonprofit thought process came from was saying, Hey, we can do this.
[00:23:58] Then getting people to want to do it is the easy part. And we just need to find the funding to do it. And that's, that's the juggle of a nonprofit and all that good stuff. Yeah. I'm involved in the nonprofit world as well. And, uh, yeah, no, I, that, that resonates for sure. Um, so, uh, with, with the nonprofit, right? Like what's the process of getting help from, from, uh, the, uh, the mountain.
[00:24:25] So on our website, um, we have a, um, property valuation form. It is a formal right of entry that'll gives us permission to come to the property, inspect everything. Um, and if we're in a position to be able to either do it for free or cross share. And right now at the beginning stages of it, we've been focusing on people that really need to help. Um, and, you know, some interviews, some things like that, uh, to really make sure our money's going to the right place.
[00:24:55] Um, and then, but anybody can sign up for a property valuation and, you know, we'll come out, we'll find any dead trees, infected trees. And then I can at least have a plan for you to get it mitigated. Um, and it will always be at a lower cost with local service fighters that I have arrangements made with and things of that nature. Um, and you know, that is very helpful. There's also some tax incentives, some different things that we can help with.
[00:25:24] Mm-hmm in terms of actually getting it done. Um, and so, you know, it is still very helpful for the community to just go on there and hit the property valuation form and sign up and then we'll contact you and come out and take a look. We also work with a lot of HOAs, um, similar fashion of getting the whole community together because it is a community problem. You know, if your neighbor doesn't do anything, then not to say you shouldn't, but it makes it harder. Yeah.
[00:25:52] So, you know, if we can come together as a community, then this problem could be at least drastically slowed down. Stopped is, is the goal, but we just need to lower the curve because right now our curve is straight up. Yeah. And we just need to flatten it and then get it to teeter down. Um, so what, um, what parts of Colorado do you serve with the nonprofit? Um, the whole state. Um, you know, I, I am in Evergreen and Durst County.
[00:26:21] Got my hands full there, but I come down to Colorado Springs. I've, um, go all the way up to like Fair Play, um, Jefferson, uh, anywhere in between really Boulder. Um, that's another place that I go quite often. So a lot of windshield time. Yeah. I love that. Yeah. No, that's a, I mean, it's a great thing you're doing.
[00:26:42] Um, and that, that property evaluation seems like a great first step because I would imagine one of the biggest hurdles that you probably face is people just not even being aware of what the issue is and how it spreads. Well, they've heard of it, but they just don't know what it could do. Um, or they see it on a hike, but they don't think it's in their own backyard. Correct. Yeah, exactly. The best thing I can do is when I go to a property and don't find anything infected. And then people are always really excited and it's a great day.
[00:27:10] Um, but sometimes that's not the case. Um, there's a lot to be done. Would you say, uh, most of the properties you go to are impacted or more of them are than not? Yeah. Um, and you know, sometimes the bigger group HOAs, um, because they'll send out an email to the whole community. Everyone will sign up whether they've maybe knows some signs or not. That might be where I find less of them.
[00:27:37] Um, or it, or sometimes I get a call or someone signs up and I go out and they're perfectly fine. Um, and the pitch tube pine trees are very pitchy trees to begin with. So they have any kind of wound. If you did fire mitigation and you raised your canopy of your trees, those old cuts are going to seep pitch down. It can look like a pitch tube from a mountain pine field or even like a light old lightning strike.
[00:28:04] That's, you know, way up that you can't see it's running down the tree and stagger little globs. Mm-hmm . So people think it might be not a pine field, but it's not. And so that's always great. And I recommend to protect it. Yeah. Yeah. So what's that first sign that people should watch out for? Um, one is a brown pine tree. Okay. That's not the first sign you should look for, but that's a sign that you have beetles on your property. Yeah. Um, that's the easiest one.
[00:28:32] If you have a large property, if you have five acres, best thing to do is walk around, look at the trees, see if you see any pitch coming out and you can Google pitch tube from mountain pine beetle. There's a ton of pictures of what it looks like. Very easy to identify once you do. Um, I can walk through the woods and spot them from 40 yards away. Um, just because I do it all day, but sometimes it takes actually walking up to the tree and actually seeing it. Oh, this is interesting.
[00:29:00] So yeah, it kind of looks like that, like hardened sap, like little dots of that on the outside of the tree. Um, is that just sap that's coming out of the hole that the beetle went in? So that's the tree's natural defense mechanism trying to encompass that beetle in it before it gets through, but it's too thick and not enough of it. So the beetle gets through and it still comes out, but it's too late. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:29:22] Seeing these photos here, uh, that's a nice thing about having the computer in front of me, but seeing these photos here, it's like, I've definitely seen that on trees before. Um, and it, but it could also be something different. Um, so, you know, that's when you want to call somebody, call me, sign up, whatever it may be, but just get it looked at and make sure that you're not then spreading. Cause if right now an actively infected tree, the top of it's going to look perfectly fine.
[00:29:50] It's not going to be any different color. It's not going to be, it's going to look just like the tree next to it, but that'll change and may, and they'll start to lighten a little bit and then they go brown within two months. Yeah. Yeah. Anyone who's just listening to this right now. Yeah. Do what he just said. Google pitch to a mountain pine beetle and you will see a very familiar site. It's like this, like, um, you know, like yellowish, like, uh, yeah.
[00:30:20] Like, yeah. Like, yeah. Yeah. That's a good way to describe it. Um, and a lot of boring insects, they leave, um, a lot of dust at the base of the tree. That's going to be like, they're boring dust and excrement and everything else. Yeah. With mountain pine beetle, you don't see as much of that. Um, because that pitch will grab it.
[00:30:41] So that, that white pitch, when it, when you see it, it's actually going to be like a brownish color, but that's just really fine sawdust that's in there because it's just kind of grabbed it all. So you might see some, but you're not going to see a lot underneath like most boring insects. Um, another thing to look for is, um, woodpecker holes and that's actually a really good sign.
[00:31:03] Um, it's bad for the tree, but if you have a tree that you find that is dead and it is just covered and pitch tubes and woodpecker holes, it is probably not going to be, there's probably not a lot of beetles going to be coming out of it because the woodpeckers have gotten to them. Yeah. Which is good. Um, that's what ultimately what we want, but it still could, there could still be larva in there.
[00:31:30] It could still turn to beetles, but I've seen a lot of them where, I mean, I don't think it'd be possible for a larva to live in there after all of these woodpecker holes through it. So yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. So brown trees, that's second, second sign kind of, but these pitch pitch tubes and that's, that's the, that's the easiest, most alarming sign is a brown pine tree. Um, and you know, pine trees can die from other reasons, but right now it's, that's typically the case of what it is. Yeah. Dang.
[00:32:00] Um, yeah. Well, I mean, before, before I started asking you, uh, my favorite question to ask anyone who's a guest on the show about, uh, restaurant recommendations in their hometown, uh, is there anything else that you want to address on the topic of the pine beetle? Um, in terms of the pine beetle, it, this could be a three-year problem. It could be a five-year problem. It could be a 10-year problem. It, it depends on how fast we react.
[00:32:27] It depends on, you know, community education and then the community coming together as well. Um, you know, the foundation, we're always looking for sponsors from a business level, the community as well, small donations add up tremendously. Um, you know, to say we could crowdfund this project would be a little overzealous, but it's definitely possible. Um, and you know, it's, it's something that I'm very passionate about, something that all the people I work with are very passionate about.
[00:32:55] And it is our skillset to do it. Um, you know, we just need the, the right things in place to do it. So that's, that's really the basis of that. Um, but as far as evergreen restaurants, the only, not the only, but there's a new place. Um, it's called the frame shop and I don't even want to, I don't even want to broadcast this. Cause I found my little, my quiet little, little place I can go. Um, but it's underneath evergreen brewery.
[00:33:24] I think it's owned by the same people, but it's just, they have great food, great cocktails, something evergreen needed for sure. Um, we have, there's a lot of good restaurants there, but this is, this is different. Um, it's, uh, it's just a good place to go and hang out small. I think it's like 30 people capacity. Yeah. So very cool. Yeah. The food looks good. I think they want a taste of evergreen too. Um, so they, they do a good job.
[00:33:50] What about, uh, what about some local recreation and, and you don't have to say your like favorite trail or anything, but most people I would venture to say, like, if they're just, you know, passively traveling through Colorado, maybe they've never been to evergreen before, but like, yeah, like what are some of the like more popular stuff that people, the, the lake is great. Um, you can rent like paddle boats and, um, sand up paddle boards and all of that. Um, elk meadow is beautiful. It's right. As you come into evergreen, um, I think it used to be an old cattle ranch that they turned
[00:34:20] into like a, um, conservation area and, um, you know, highway 103 is beautiful going up towards, uh, Mount blue sky. Um, actually live off of that, but, um, it, uh, yeah, it's, it's a beautiful place. I drive so much and I see so much of the state all the time that I still get wild a lot, but a lot of it, you know, um, I'm just going. So, um, but I spent a lot of time in nature and people's property.
[00:34:50] So the weekends, I typically don't go hike a trail because I hiked all week. Um, but no, we, we love going down to, um, uh, like the Kittridge area is really nice. Like in between Morrison and evergreen, um, Morrison's very cool as well. Yes. Everyone knows that. Um, so yeah. Very cool. Yeah. I like that part of the state, um, that you're in. We, uh, uh, I read motorcycles and that's always part of the, uh, anytime we're up there,
[00:35:19] like the roads up there. So one or three is a very popular, uh, Saturdays and Sundays. I try not to leave the house. Yeah. I bet. Dodging everybody. So for sure. Um, awesome. So if people are wanting more information, uh, I'm assuming the website's the best place to get it. Yep. It's mountainpinebeetle.org. Yeah. Mountainpinebeetle.org. Mountainpinebeetle foundation is the full organization too. So, and we have a Facebook page. I try to keep up with it. Um, and post a lot of stuff there. So check that out as well.
[00:35:49] You got some information here on the, on the website that people can just browse as well. Seeing the impact map here. Yep. So the impact map is something, um, especially with, uh, business sponsors. Um, they it's somewhere we can highlight where certain business sponsors, certain things and, you know, they'll live there forever and, uh, obviously go on our sponsor page. So. Very cool. Yeah. Got the donation tab there as well. Yep. Um, and of course the property evaluation, which I mean, that's something any homeowner who
[00:36:18] has any suspicion, it seems like that's a huge benefit to them to be able to be able to get that checked out. Uh, awesome. Well, yeah. Wesley, thank you so much for chatting and filling in our audience about this, this issue. I appreciate the opportunity. Yeah. I think people will next hike, they see a tree that may be infected or they're in their neighborhood. Just driving down the road. I'll see them. Yeah. They'll be more aware. So really appreciate it. That's a valuable message. Likewise. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.