BENNET, HICKENLOOPER INTRODUCE LEGISLATION TO MITIGATE MOUNTAIN PINE BEETLE OUTBREAKS IN RESPONSE TO COLORADO WILDFIRES

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 -- Sen. Michael Bennet issued the following press release:

Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, a senior member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and John Hickenlooper introduced the Emergency Mountain Pine Beetle Response and Coordination Act to mitigate the growing mountain pine beetle outbreak in Colorado.

Colorado faces warming weather and prolonged drought, creating the perfect conditions for the spread of the mountain pine beetle in Ponderosa pine forests across the state. Recent surveys from the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and Colorado State Forest Service show a large and growing outbreak of mountain pine beetle on Colorado's Front Range.

While pine beetles and wildfire are ...