The Hill News

Visiting Aspen Saturday, Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) praised the efforts of local groups working to mitigate a growing infestation of tree-killing beetles.

Local papers noted that bark pine beetles have killed more than 2.5 million acres of pine trees in Western forests in recent years, and that once dry, the dead pines become a wildfire hazards. 

Udall, who chairs the Senate Subcommittee on National Parks and serves on the subcommittee for forests, has held hearings on the beetle epidemic in the past. Last May, he authored a $50 million line item to clear dead trees that was ultimately stripped from its emergency supplemental appropriations bill.

"The bark beetle epidemic is putting our mountain communities at risk, jeopardizing our water systems and threatening our way of life," he said after the proposal was blocked.

On Monday, he tweeted:

Aspen is at the leading edge in the fight vs. the bark-beetle epidemic.

I just met with federal and local groups in Aspen to commend their partnership in fighting the beetle epidemic: http://twitpic.com/28cubm

From his TwitPic account: