By KEITH WILSON

In recent years, the spruce beetle has been ravaging our region’s mountain spruce trees. The beetle’s natural function is to pluck mature forests to allow new growth, but climate change has invited this special little bug to thrive in new areas. Now they are here, in the Wood RIver Valley.

While the mountain spruce tree is native to the region, it is not native to our valley due to our drier environment. That makes this beautiful tree an easy target for predators. First, the beetles burrow into the bark. Then they lay their eggs and introduce a fungus, and the fungus is what ultimately kills the tree.

If you are the proud owner of a mountain spruce tree, take a look at it right now. You may notice some brown needles and dead branches at its top. That section of brown, dead branches is the first sign of a spruce beetle infestation. At this point, mitigation is unlikely, and you’ll see death ascend down to the roots within days. Any mountain spruce nearby stands a similar chance.

If there are no visible signs of the beetle on your tree, look for tiny holes beneath the bark. Therein lies your answer, with their presence or absence. If you spot holes, you may want to look into mitigation.