The axe lady

25 Apr

We had the privilege to meet Michelle Roberts, the only forest health specialist for the Nevada Division of Forestry. We met at Mt. Rose, a popular ski resort that falls within her area of responsibility.

I had been longing to visit this region since my university days. I wanted to work at a ski resort during one vacation, but my dad made me choose, between a second hand car or a place ticket to Lake Tahoe. I chose a car, but 25 years later I ended up here...without a car.

Michelle showed us first hand what the devastation the beetle had done to the area. She just happened to have a little axe with her and we had a look at a beetle hibernating along with eggs that have taken shelter against the alpine winter underneath the bark, ready to take flight as soon as the temperatures increased this spring.

The beetles play a valuable part in nature by removing unhealthy stressed trees. One challenge is that when it is a monoculture commercial forest, the effects are much more dramatic.