SUMMIT COUNTY — The candi­dates for the Senate District 16 seat offer subtly different approaches to dealing with the pine-beetle infestation that has left millions of dead trees in Summit County and throughout the mountains. Incumbent Sen. Dan Gibbs, a Democ­rat from Summit County, touts his record of securing money for protecting target­ed high-value areas and tax breaks for businesses that make use of the wood.
  His challenger, Republican Don Ytterberg of Evergreen, seeks easier access to public lands for logging and greater public-private partnerships to remove the trees.
  Both agree that it’s one of the most pressing issues in the district, which spans Summit County and parts or all of Boulder, Jefferson, Gilpin, Clear Creek and Grand counties.
  “It’s one of the biggest things in the minds of voters,” Gibbs said.
  In his two years at the Capitol, Gibbs passed five bills related to forest health and pine-beetle mitigation, bringing greater statewide attention to the dead and dying forests in the High Country.
  “For years, I have been working col­laboratively with local elected officials, state legislators and concerned citizens, working to bring real solutions to this problem,” Gibbs said.
  In 2008, he reauthorized his Col­orado Forest Restoration Act and secured $5 million in state funds to sup­port forest-health projects that protect critical watersheds.
  “Bringing $5 million to the table is almost hard to believe,” Gibbs said. “But, that’s just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what we really need.”
  As a longtime business owner, Ytterberg believes coordination between private and public entities is crucial when it comes to creating solutions on a larger scale.
  Noting that the forest service cannot take care of the problem on its own, Ytterberg feels it is time to re-evaluate land-use regulations and allow more access for logging.
  “I would love to see something hap­pen in terms of a public/private partnership,” Ytter­berg said, adding that greater access for the timber industry could help reduce the available fuel for wildfires.
  “It’s time to bring all the players to the table and develop a community-action plan that makes the most sense.”
  Gibbs and Ytter­berg agree that tax incentives for indi­viduals and busi­nesses that use beetle-kill wood would be a step in the right direction, and could help allevi­ate some of the burden from the Forest Service.
  In this year’s legislative session Gibbs passed a bill that removes sales tax on products that use bee­tle- kill wood, whether for build­ing material, wood pellets, furniture or other uses.
  “In terms of incentives, the things that have been done so far are positive,” Ytterberg said. “But are these incentives on a large enough scale to influence a mil­lion acres of dead trees?”
  Funding to support pine-beetle mitigation has been limited at the state level, and although both candidates agree it is criti­cal to get more federal participa­tion in the fight against the beetle, experts question whether the funding is even available.
  “I don’t think federal funding is a realistic solution,” said ento­mologist Ingrid Aguayo of the Colorado State Forest Service, noting that Forest Service funds are already limited. “One realistic alternative would be to actually utilize the dead wood for something, because there is so much out there.”
  To date, some 1.5 million acres of Col­orado’s lodgepole pine forests have been infected by the pine beetle, resulting in loss of habitat for wildlife, increased fuel for wildfires, and major headaches for con­cerned residents — and lawmakers.
  “This has been an incredibly hot topic in the state legisla­ture recently,” said Colorado State Forester Paul Cada. “People recognize the work that needs to be done. … This is a really difficult issue right now, and it’s not going away any time soon.”