Sun Aug 30, 2009 12:13 pm
Colorado Green Initiative
The Colorado Green Initiative
Join us on Facebook! "Colorado Green Initiative" , or blog with us at http://www.coloradogreeninitiative.blogspot.com
Our forests are being devastated by an insect, no larger than a piece of rice. The environmental desolation is rising by the day, the monetary cost increases by the hour, and the fire danger is growing by the minute. We must do something to end this epidemic before our forests, and everything which inhabits them, are exterminated.
Our Mission
The Colorado Green Initiative is a grassroots organization concerned with the devastation to Colorado’s forests and communities caused by the Mountain Pine Beetle infestation.
Currently, over two million acres of our state's forested lands have been decimated by the beetle. The fire danger to these areas, and the communities which surround them, has increased to a terrifying level due to the millions of dead, dry trees inhabiting our once rich, vivacious forests. The damage from a wild fire in, but not limited to, Clear Creek, Summit, and Park counties could and would wreak complete devastation both environmentally and economically.
Perhaps most at risk are the state's water supplies. The potential for forest fires as the dying trees dry out could leave reservoirs and rivers clogged with sediment and rotted waste.
The Colorado Green Initiative is dedicated to finding a solution to this problem. We are currently looking to partner with responsible individuals and businesses to raise funds to support mitigation and reforestation efforts along with funding local Fire Departments in high-fire danger areas; supplying them with much needed equipment.
At Task
The current outbreak of Mountain Pine Beetles is ten times larger than previous outbreaks. In 2006, Colorado alone sustained close to one million acres of dead trees. In just over two years, the total number of dead trees from the Pine Beetle outbreak has now totaled over two million acres.
Climate change has contributed to the size and severity of the outbreak, and it may, with similar infestations, have a major impact on the capability of our forests to remove greenhouse gas from our atmosphere. The U.S. Forest Service described the die-off as "a huge, unprecedented event, with major social and economic implications.”
It is the largest forest insect blight ever seen in Colorado and perhaps on the North American continent. The current epidemic is a symptom of unhealthy forests and it underscores the need for forest-scale landscape management which will help make our woodlands more resilient to wildfires, insect and disease epidemics in the future.
The Colorado Green Initiative is raising funds to bring an end to the Pine Beetle infestation, to support the clean-up of Colorado’s forests, and to help the fire-fighting efforts that protect our mountain communities.
WON’T YOU HELP US?
Join us on Facebook! "Colorado Green Initiative" , or blog with us at http://www.coloradogreeninitiative.blogspot.com
Our forests are being devastated by an insect, no larger than a piece of rice. The environmental desolation is rising by the day, the monetary cost increases by the hour, and the fire danger is growing by the minute. We must do something to end this epidemic before our forests, and everything which inhabits them, are exterminated.
Our Mission
The Colorado Green Initiative is a grassroots organization concerned with the devastation to Colorado’s forests and communities caused by the Mountain Pine Beetle infestation.
Currently, over two million acres of our state's forested lands have been decimated by the beetle. The fire danger to these areas, and the communities which surround them, has increased to a terrifying level due to the millions of dead, dry trees inhabiting our once rich, vivacious forests. The damage from a wild fire in, but not limited to, Clear Creek, Summit, and Park counties could and would wreak complete devastation both environmentally and economically.
Perhaps most at risk are the state's water supplies. The potential for forest fires as the dying trees dry out could leave reservoirs and rivers clogged with sediment and rotted waste.
The Colorado Green Initiative is dedicated to finding a solution to this problem. We are currently looking to partner with responsible individuals and businesses to raise funds to support mitigation and reforestation efforts along with funding local Fire Departments in high-fire danger areas; supplying them with much needed equipment.
At Task
The current outbreak of Mountain Pine Beetles is ten times larger than previous outbreaks. In 2006, Colorado alone sustained close to one million acres of dead trees. In just over two years, the total number of dead trees from the Pine Beetle outbreak has now totaled over two million acres.
Climate change has contributed to the size and severity of the outbreak, and it may, with similar infestations, have a major impact on the capability of our forests to remove greenhouse gas from our atmosphere. The U.S. Forest Service described the die-off as "a huge, unprecedented event, with major social and economic implications.”
It is the largest forest insect blight ever seen in Colorado and perhaps on the North American continent. The current epidemic is a symptom of unhealthy forests and it underscores the need for forest-scale landscape management which will help make our woodlands more resilient to wildfires, insect and disease epidemics in the future.
The Colorado Green Initiative is raising funds to bring an end to the Pine Beetle infestation, to support the clean-up of Colorado’s forests, and to help the fire-fighting efforts that protect our mountain communities.
WON’T YOU HELP US?
