| DENVER, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. Forest Service plans to thin 80,000 acres of forest in Colorado and Wyoming to try to corral the pernicious bark beetle. SAVE MONEY ON TRAVEL DEALS The beetles can make forests more prone to fire. Work is to begin this fall, The Rocky Mountain News reported. "We're witnessing the death of an entire forest", said Gary Severson, executive director of the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments. "We know this is part of nature. It's what lodgepole pine forests do. We take all that in stride. The big thing we're focusing on is how to keep the inevitable fire from destroying our assets. Our livelihoods depend on these forests." Forest Service spokeswoman Mary Ann Chandler said the current project, which will cost the taxpayers about $8 million is the opening battle in a five-year campaign. She said 755,000 acres of forest are threatened by bark beetles. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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