Meeting to be Held on Beetle Infestation in Devil’s Gate Dam

The Agriculture Commissioner will be hosting an information session to inform the public and interested parties about the infestation of the Borer Beetle in Devil’s Gate Dam at 5 p.m. on Oct. 13 near the west area parking lot.

The meeting will include the measures being taken to protect the native habitat.

The infestation was discovered after Public Works, in coordination with the County Agricultural Commissioner, investigated a group of trees that showed signs of stress in Habitat Restoration areas within Devil’s Gate Reservoir.

The shothole borer beetle, an invasive pest, was found during the investigation and was determined to be impacting the health of the trees.

The only way to control the spread of the beetle is to cut down the diseased tree and carefully treat the wood on-site. It is important to chip the infected wood smaller than 1 inch, as this eliminates habitat big enough for the SHB to continue thriving.

A heat treatment, either through composting or solarizing, is done after chipping to kill the beetle and the fungi.

The County Agricultural Commissioner, with assistance from Public Works, will be removing five heavily infested trees, three cottonwoods and two black willows, to help slow the spread of the beetle.

Additional tree trimming of lightly infested trees will be an on-going process to mitigate the impact of the beetles and will be conducted outside of bird nesting season.