Denver—Spruce beetles damaged over 178,000 acres of Colorado’s high country according to the state forest service. The agency’s annual report said wildfires consumed the second largest area in state history in 2018. The report says dense, unhealthy forests, drought and warmer temperatures are to blame. Since 2000, the forest service says the beetle has destroyed over 1.7 million acres in Colorado. Officials say if not for thinning, fire breaks and other preventive measures, the losses would’ve been much worse.
