Anne Scarffe, Peak to Peak. Residents around the Peak to Peak area are noticing dead or dying trees along the roads, both paved and dirt. Eric Kennedy, of Good People Tree Service, noted lots of possible reasons, but without testing, the real reason alludes. He is a Peak to Peak native, grew up in Rollinsville, and has been an arborist since 2009. 

Pine saplings as well as up to 150-year-old pines next to roads are showing sickness, including white residue on some on paved highways 72, 119, 46 and on dirt roads like Magnolia Road. He has seen affected trees near corners of these roads, where sand from de-icing builds up.    

 Currently, agencies have no plans to test, though they are open to finding out more. Ben Pfohl with the Colorado State Forest Service said Colorado’s erratic weather has been suggested as one piece of this puzzle. 

The cold spell in May might have caused some of the damage to spruce, pine and fir. Also, the drought situations both past and possibly again this year, puts stress on the trees, especially those closest to the roads.

Pfohl said that the pine beetle has been around for about 10 years and has killed many pines. Another beetle, known as IPS beetle, bark beetle or engraver beetle has been identified as another pine killer.

The Peak to Peak area has several county road maintenance departments responsible year-round for winter de-icing and spring and summer dust retardant. The operations supervisor for Gilpin County said Gilpin County Maintenance has used the same supplier for at least ten years. 

The department has changed application to a light coating of the deicer several times during pre-storm preparations in the past two years. Gilpin County has 1.5 miles of paved road and 150 miles of various dirt roads to maintain. To prevent wash-boarding on dirt roads, they use compaction and blading equipment, and all dirt roads have speed limits. 

Sara Kinnison, customer service representative with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) said CDOT does everything in its power to make sure they are environmentally conscious of all the processes and procedures as well as the impacts on the environment. The materials used are mostly sand with about 7 percent magnesium chloride.

She also suggested that traffic places a huge toll on the environment, and the increase in traffic is causing more carbon dioxide release into the air. Jennifer Cook, director of Gilpin County Extension, suggested it’s possible on downslope sides of roads that magnesium chloride could cause some tree injury.

Pfohl suggested that it is currently a good time of year to cut down dead trees. Nederland’s sort yard on Ridge Road has opened and has seen some of the fading trees. They have set up beetle traps around the property to find out if beetles are hitting area trees. Gilpin County has the transfer yard that is open according to their website at http://www.gilpincounty.org/departments/public_works/trash_slash_recycle_info 

The slash site is open seasonally, located directly across Highway 119, from the transfer station. The transfer station resumed normal operations on Wednesday, May 13. Transfer Station Hours: Wednesday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and on Sunday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Face masks are required.

(Originally published in the June 11, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)