I'm more than a little peeved at this development. In 2002 we were fortunate in the planting of two ash trees that have grown to become absolutely beautiful trees. It's been reported that the seed banks at CSU and Iowa have been racing to obtain and store seed from all of the various varieties of ash trees. As of now and as reported, there is no way to stop this tree assassin from totally killing major ash populations. Perhaps the lesson from all of this is to plant a variety of species and not rely on any one type of tree. What is scary is the possibility that a similar situation could develop with a major food source. I fear the results could be a catastrophe in our over populated world.

The situation with the Mountain Pine Beetle is a little better. There are spray solutions available for this pest and it has been reported that beetle kill is on the decline because the bugs are running out of food and are dying as a result.

Elms are not my most favorite trees. In this area they tend to be trash weed trees. At least one species of elm is considered invasive and is banned from a number of states. Elms are also known for the diseases they carry. Dutch elm disease is one of the more notable examples. As reported, there are no cures for Dutch Elm except the planting of Dutch Elm resistant varieties.

Following are selected pictures of local trees. The thumbnails below run about 12K in size and clicking on the thumbnails will download about a 130-190K graphic of the same tree.

This is a picture of a tree alleged to have been damaged by herbicide. As reported to me, the herbicide spraying took place during the summer of 2008. At this point spraying would have occured a full 12 months prior.

This is a picture of a tree in the middle of Hotchkiss taken during the same month. The damage to this tree seems to closely resemble the damage in picture one.

This is the same tree as in picture one only taken in 2010. At this point, spraying would have occured a full 24 months prior. As a former licensed EPA herbicide applicator and current State of Colorado/EPA licensed applicator, I know of no OTC available herbicide with a persistance value this large (long). I did talk with the contractor that did the spraying and verbally confirmed the herbicide used did not require a license to purchase.

Over the years, we have been removing the trash elm trees on our property and replacing them with other types. These two are among our very favorites. The hope is that these trees will remain isolated from the ash borer insect mentioned above.

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