Dillon to Remove Infected Trees

It’s not as drastic as Frisco’s plan to remove at least 9,000 trees from its peninsula, but the town of Dillon will also hire a contractor to weed out the pine beetle infested trees from its recreation area on the Dillon Reservoir this summer.

The town council approved a contract Tuesday with The Tree Musketeers out of Evergreen to cut down 788 infected lodgepole pine trees from its 260-acre Dillon Nature Preserve.

Last year, the town paid to have 393 trees removed from the preserve for the same reason. The preserve is a passive recreation area zoned as open space off Highway 6 between the Summerwood subdivision and Dillon Bay.

Starting May 1, the contractor will fell the trees, lop and scatter the limbs on the forest floor, and remove the trunks from the preserve, said assistant public works director Scott O’Brien.

Eliminating the dying trees from the forest could help rejuvenate the area by increasing space between the remaining trees, thus allowing sunlight through to the forest floor, O’Brien said.

“The trees that are left are going to be healthier and better able to fend of attacks in the future,” O’Brien said.