Emigrant Creek Ranger District officials have announced temporary closures to campgrounds starting Aug. 1, as contractors will begin spraying tree trunks in efforts to prevent mortality from pine beetles.

Bark beetles are tiny insects with hard, cylindrical bodies that reproduce under the bark of trees. There are 600 different species of bark beetles in the United States. Several species, such as the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae), attack and kill live trees. Most species of bark beetles live in dead, weakened, or dying hosts. During the past decade in the west, tree mortality caused by bark beetles has increased in spruce, lodgepole, pinyon-juniper, and ponderosa forests. This increase is correlated with shifts in temperature and increased water stress, which create conditions within trees that are favorable to beetle survival and growth

To combat the beetles, contractors will be rotating through five campgrounds located on the district, for the safety of the public the affected campgrounds will need to be closed the day the campground is sprayed and the following day. To lessen the impact to visitors, forest officials have scheduled the spraying so that campgrounds will only be closed on weekdays.

The order of campground closures and dates are as follows:

• Joaquin Miller – Aug. 1-2

• Idlewild- Aug. 2-3

• Rock Springs – Aug. 66-7

• Delintment Lake – Aug. 8-9

• Buck Springs – Aug. 9-10

For further information about this project, please contact the Emigrant Creek Ranger District office at 541-573-4300.