Denver Post
April 7, 2008, Steve Lipsher

There's a silver lining to the brown trees in the Rocky Mountains. While almost a million acres of evergreens across the state are dying from an unparalleled outbreak of bark beetles, experts say the infestation is creating hidden benefits. Among them are increased water runoff to streams, opportunities for new vegetation and more varied wildlife habitat. "Some people think of the beetles as destroying our forests. That's not really the case," said Jim Maxwell, a hydrologist with the U.S. Forest Service....

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