[APWG] NEWS: Some See Beetle Attacks on Western Forests as aNatural Event

[ialm at erols.com]

There is nothing in the article about whether the beetle is native or
alien. That information is necessary for a valid evaluation. Cheers.

Marc Imlay, PhD
Conservation biologist, Anacostia Watershed Society
(301-699-6204, 301-283-0808),
Board member of the Mid-Atlantic Exotic Pest Plant Council,
Hui o Laka at Kokee State Park, Hawaii,
Vice president of the Maryland Native Plant Society
Chair of the Biodiversity and Habitat Stewardship Committee
for the Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Original Message:
-----------------
From: Olivia Kwong plant at plantconservation.org
Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:34:15 -0500 (CDT)
To: native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org,
apwg at lists.plantconservation.org
Subject: [APWG] NEWS: Some See Beetle Attacks on Western Forests as
aNatural Event


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/science/earth/07beetles.html?ref=science

Some See Beetle Attacks on Western Forests as a Natural Event
By JIM ROBBINS
Published: July 6, 2009

MISSOULA, Mont. -- When Ken Salazar -- then a senator from Colorado, now 
secretary of the interior -- called the attack on millions of acres of 
pine forests by the bark beetle the Katrina of the West, he was expressing 
the common view of the explosive growth of the beetles as an unmitigated 
disaster.

But not everybody sees it that way. Some environmentalists and scientists 
support the beetles. While they acknowledge the severity of the problems 
the beetles are causing, they argue that the insects, which kill only 
mature trees larger than five inches in diameter, are a natural 
phenomenon, like forest fires, and play a vital ecological role.

See the link above for the full article text.


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