EID – Working hard to protect Sly Park Recreation Area
By: Greg Hawkins is Parks and Recreation Manager for the El Dorado Irrigation District as published in the Mountain Democrat
As a result of California’s historic multi-year drought, EID has been managing an unprecedented tree die off due to bark beetle infestation. The trees’ natural defense mechanism is to repel the invader by pushing them out with pitch or sap. During a drought the tree cannot produce enough pitch and the beetle is able to lay their eggs in the tree. When the larva hatches, they eat away the living tissue of the tree, just below the bark, killing the tree. Upon maturation, the beetles move on to the next tree and continue the cycle.
Under normal conditions, EID staff, in cooperation with Cal Fire, has been able to manage the watershed and maintain a healthy forest. However, with the onset of the drought, tree mortality has grown to epidemic proportions, resulting in emergency declarations up and down the Sierra Nevada range by Boards of Supervisors, utility and water districts, and the State of California…
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k link: http://www.mtdemocrat.com/opinion/working-hard-to-protect-sly-park-recreation-area/
