Big wildfires in the forest backcountry through the West are often blamed on pine bark beetles, with the thought that those diseased and dead trees present a higher fire risk. In fact, plans are underway to cut those trees down in some roadless areas in Colorado in the name of fire protection – and the idea has been eyed for forests in Wyoming and elsewhere. But a new report from the National Center for Conservation Science and Policy finds beetle outbreaks are not directly related to a higher fire risk. Report author Dr. Dominick Kulakowski says the bottom line is that drought and higher temperatures fuel backcountry fires – not beetles…(Click to hear comment from Dominik Kulakowski)

The report suggests that the limited money available to reduce forest fire risk be spent on protecting communities at the edge of the forests, which Kulakowski says is more cost-effective than backcountry tree-cutting projects.

Western forests are seeing the biggest beetle outbreaks in decades, with millions of acres of lodgepole pines killed.