Western Bark Beetle Assessment updated

The Western Forestry Leadership Coalition recently updated its "Western Bark Beetle Assessment: A Framework for Cooperative Forest Stewardship" (PDF). The second edition of the report includes new information on the importance of trees in storing carbon, progress over the past five years and a call to action. More than 7 million acres of western forests contain dead or dying trees due to bark beetle outbreaks. According to the recent assessment, approximately 22 million additional acres of western forests, on both public and private land, are likely to experience significant (over 25%) tree mortality from bark beetles over the next 15 years. The report calls for minimizing the impacts of ongoing and future outbreaks on 2.4 million acres of highest priority in the West.