I mean it doesn't take a genius to figure out that this is not good.

Your right this is probably not unusual for Colorado, BUT when you take into account the concurrent mountain pine beetle infestations from northern BC and Alberta all the way down to Arizona and Nevada, then add to that the other bark beetle outbreaks ( Spruce beetle , Douglas Fir beetle, Westerns, RTB, IPS and more) . This “thing” is unprecedented. Something very big is going on in the Rockies and it’s not well understood. Admittedly its complex and there are many contributing factors. Climate change will be near or at the top of every respectable scientists list.

Pardon the pun but we have more important "fish to fry".

These critters will be around long after humans have departed, no matter what we do.

The point is, don't we have more important things to worry about? Or should we just throw more money we don't have at something else?

The first time we get with a wmd all of this nonsense will pale in comparison to the cost in lives and the economy. That's just a fact.

By Saturday night there is a real good chance the Senate will push the monstrous health bill through and then eventual passage. Like in the House, the odds are that many so-called moderate senators will be intimidated and bought off with some concesions for their state. Have a nice weekend my friend.

>That ugly little bug will get its silly antennae "kicked off" almost every pine tree in Montana. — With Gov. Help

>When "Godzilla -in spe" is nearly exterminated, some Sierra Club freak will call him "endangered". — With Gov. Help

>69 research projects and impact studies will employ 357 prof.'s and grad students to investigate. — With Gov. Help

>3 of the above will conclude that some Warbler's food supply is endangered due to the missing bugs and something should be done about it lest the birds also become endangered!

> Hundreds of undergrads will do papers and chase around the woods for half a dozen summers to fix the "problem" for the birds and the beetles. — With Gov. Help

>The logging companies then complain that their newly reforested acreage will be decimated by the new beetles newly settled to feed the old birds. — They'll get a Gov. subsidy

When all is said and done the taxpayer will be out 1$ per bug for a billion dead beetles, plus 1000$ per to bring 1 Million of them back to feed 10,000 birds of which 9,000 will die anyway before the remaining 1,000 find some other creature to dine on and recover (in 6 years time) their original 10.000 bird-strength population. Total cost to taxpayer: 2 Billion dollars for the birds and the beetles, plus 1 Billion for the loggers, makes together 3 Billion.

Maybe if this and other such programs together finally do bankrupt us, we'll be able to get a "loan" from the UN, just to "tide us over" until we can find more "paying" projects.

Oh, I forgot, the only money THEY had to lend us was ours in the first place, which they gave to some tribal chiefs in Zambia to fund "low carbon footprint campfires". Guess the beetles and birds will have to perish anyway, because we'll have to eat both, but this time uncooked!

Sometimes I find myself wishing for "climate change" a thousand times more rapid and intensive than what has been falsely predicted. Even at the cost of sealing my own fate it would prove a pleasure to watch certain stupid senators and other public officials have to share it. I'd somehow enjoy that in my last days!

Is there a chance we can scramble GPS signals just long enough to get "Mad Max" "lost in the woods" for good? Intellectually, he already is. Now what was the name of that silly lady from Michigan(?) who months ago told reporters she can "feel climate change" in the "bumps" of turbulence each time she flies? Maybe Max and her could share a ride … or a jog?

With the ever-present nuclear, chem, and bio threat from abroad? With an existing national debt that can never be paid off except for 1) accounting gimmicks or 2) default? With a country that basically just spends? With politicians who will not tell the truth? With politicians who act indignant when called liars yet engage in ommission, deception, lack of ethics, bait and switch?

AND, Baucus is concerned about Pine Beetles?

It's called nature – Mr. Baucus. Species, by the millions, have come and gone throughout the history of this planet.

But what you politicians have done and are doing to this country is not natural. Your endless spending, accumulated debt, lack of accountability, and unrealistic vision of what we can afford is NOT natural.

The Rise of the Pine Beetles is the least of our worries.