They're also a big problem here in New Mexico. I live on a heavily wooded lot of mixed pinyon and juniper. About half of my pinyon have died, and I've spent muc

They're also a big problem here in New Mexico. I live on a heavily wooded lot of mixed pinyon and juniper. About half of my pinyon have died, and I've spent much of my free time in the last two years removing them. But the surrounding lots and the adjacent vast public lands have scary amounts of dead fuel on the ground. I'm preparing for a major fire as if it's inevitable and imminent, rather than just another risk. My previous home insurance company doubled my rates so I moved to another ... which my agent tells me, has already withdrawn insurance underwriting from much of the area. The pinyon that are left tend to be the ones that grow closely with the juniper, which is somehow protective. Removing dead trees seems to slow down the disease in nearby trees, so it acts like a spreading infection. I'm told that the bark beetles are usually controlled by die-offs in winter cold snaps, and we just haven't had the necessary cold snaps in recent winters.