The Beetles Are Coming
15th Boulder County Ecosystem Symposium

Saturday, April 5. Join us as we explore the roles of insects and fire in Front Range forests. This year's symposium features an inside look at the pine beetle infestation that has killed virtually all the lodgepole pines in Grand County and is currently spilling over the Continental Divide. As always, the symposium is free and open to all. Please bring your own plate, utensil, and cup, so we can eliminate paper waste.

Free registration begins at 8:30 a.m., at the University of Colorado Ecology Department's Ramaley Auditorium, just east of the main entrance to Norlin Library. All-day parking ($3) is available at the UMC lot on Euclid and in a lot immediately north of Norlin Library.

Please:
Consider taking human-powered or public transportation. Parking is limited.
Bring your own cup and plate to reduce paper waste.

Morning Session

8:30-8:50: Free registration, coffee/tea.

8:55: Welcome.  Steve Jones, Boulder County Audubon Society/Boulder County Nature Association.

9:00: Tom Veblen, University of Colorado Geography.  "Historic Range of Variability of Fire and Insects in Front Range Forests."

9:55: Jeffry Mitton, University of Colorado Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.  "The Beetles Are Coming."

10:35-50: Break.

10:55: Charles Rhoades, US Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station.  "Studying the Watershed Effects of Mountain Pine Beetles at the Fraser Experimental Forest."

11:35: David Leatherman, "Front Range Forest Insects and Birds--Lessons Learned."

12:30-1:25: Complimentary buffet lunch.

Afternoon Session

1:30: Chad Julian, Boulder County Parks and Open Space.  "Boulder County Forest Restoration and Fire: Challenges of Current Science, Entrenched Beliefs, Public Perception and Internal Processes."

2:10: Heather Swanson, Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks.  "Forest Thinning and Breeding Bird Communities."

2:50: Dave Hallock, Boulder County Nature Association.  "High Elevation Birds and Recent Climate Change: Are These the Good Years?"

3:30: Closing remarks.  Joyce Gellhorn, Boulder County Nature Association.

Sponsored by Boulder County Nature Association, Boulder County Audubon Society, Boulder Bird Club, Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks, Boulder County Parks and Open Space, Colorado Native Plant Society, University of Colorado Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

Photos by Jeffry Mitton