How do we protect our Colorado HOA's pine trees from mountain pine beetle and Ips beetles?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised October 31, 2026

How a Colorado HOA board protects common-area pines from mountain pine beetle and Ips: fall surveys, removing infested trees, preventive bark sprays and slash rules.

Part of the HOA board handbook: vendors, projects and upkeep.

The short answer

A pine that bark beetles have already colonized cannot be saved, so the board's whole job is to protect the trees that are still green. Colorado State University Extension and the Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) point to the same four steps. Survey the pines every fall, after the beetles have flown. Cut and treat the infested trees before the next flight, so they do not breed the beetles that kill their neighbors. Pay a licensed applicator to spray the bark of a short list of high-value trees each spring. And stop creating the fresh, green slash and firewood piles that Ips beetles breed in. The last step costs nothing and is where many Front Range and mountain communities go wrong, often while doing the right thing on wildfire mitigation. This is general education. Your declaration, your county and your fire district may add rules, so check them before you act.

Know which beetle you have

Mountain pine beetle and Ips (engraver) beetles behave differently, and the plan depends on which one you are fighting. Mountain pine beetle, per CSU fact sheet 5.528 (reviewed August 2025), attacks ponderosa, lodgepole, Scotch and limber pine, and bristlecone and pinyon less often. It has one generation a year in Colorado. Adults can emerge from mid-June through September, with most leaving lodgepole in late July and ponderosa in mid-August. In an outbreak, the fact sheet says one infested tree can produce enough beetles to kill at least two trees the next year. Ips beetles, per fact sheet 5.558 (reviewed August 2025), are 11 species in Colorado that attack pines and spruce. Colorado blue spruce is a common landscape target. They usually go after trees already stressed by drought, root injury from construction, or wounds. They run two to four generations a year, and adults have been seen entering trees on warm days from late February through November. CSU's PlantTalk calls Ips the main bark beetle problem in urban areas. In a town community, Ips is the more likely culprit.

Run a fall survey

CSFS says to inspect pines in the fall, after adult beetles have flown to new hosts, and to remove infested trees by the following spring. Put the survey on the board calendar for September or October and have the landscape committee or a hired forester walk every common-area pine. What to look for, from the CSU fact sheets: - Pitch tubes on the trunk, shaped like popcorn and brown, pink or white. If most tubes hold trapped beetles, the tree may have fought off the attack. - Reddish or yellowish-brown boring dust in bark crevices and at the base of the trunk. - Woodpecker work: bark flakes stripped off, with flakes on the ground or snow. - Needles turning yellow, then red. For mountain pine beetle this shows about 8 to 10 months after the attack, so a red tree in spring was hit the summer before. Ips damage often shows as a fading top or branch first. - Small round exit holes with no pitch. The beetles have already left, and CSU says those trees need no treatment for beetles. The surest check is under the bark. CSU says live beetles, galleries or larvae are the most certain sign, and blue-stained sapwood checked at more than one point around the trunk backs it up. That takes a hatchet, so leave it to the forester or arborist. Tag and number each infested tree on a map, and bid the removal against that map.

Remove and treat infested trees before the next flight

For mountain pine beetle, the deadline is set by the beetle. Trees found in the fall need to be down and treated before mid-June, when emergence can begin. Cutting the tree is not enough on its own, because the larvae keep developing in the logs. CSU fact sheet 5.528 lists the treatments: peel the bark off, chip the wood, bury it under at least 8 inches of soil, or burn it in a pile, preferably with snow on the ground and after talking to a local forester and your fire district. Solar treatment works only if the temperature under the bark reaches 110 F, and CSU calls it labor-intensive. For Ips, fact sheet 5.558 adds solarizing piles under two layers of 6-mil clear plastic sealed at the edges with soil, or moving the wood at least a mile from susceptible trees. CSFS warns against moving infested wood anywhere other than a secure disposal site, and its management page lists Front Range transfer stations, landfills and wood drop-off sites. Put the disposal method in the contract. A crew that cuts infested pines and stacks the rounds by the trail has moved the problem, not solved it. Once the beetles have emerged, CSU says the wood can be used without risk to other trees.

Spray only the trees worth spraying

Preventive sprays work only on green, unattacked trees. CSU lists carbaryl, permethrin and bifenthrin as the registered active ingredients. For mountain pine beetle, fact sheet 5.528 says to spray in early summer, between April 1 and July 1, and warns that trees sprayed after June may already be under attack. One application generally lasts through one flight, about a year. For Ips, 5.558 says a labeled application should give at least three months of control, and high-risk sites may need a second treatment in summer. CSU gives four reasons sprayed trees still die: the spray went on after the attack, the mix was too dilute, part of the bark was missed, or the product wore off. Coverage runs from the ground up to where the trunk tapers below 6 inches across, all the way around. Heavy rain within two hours can wash it off. CSFS recommends spraying only high-value trees, the ones near homes, entrances, pools and trails, and CSU adds trees with construction root damage and newly planted pines. Don't try to spray a whole open-space stand. Ask the forester for a list, and price it per tree. CSFS says to hire a professional licensed through the Colorado Department of Agriculture. Under C.R.S. 35-10-106, a commercial applicator business needs liability insurance of at least $400,000 and a licensed qualified supervisor. Ask for the license number and the certificate of insurance before the crew arrives. CSFS calls verbenone pheromone packets debated and most useful when beetle pressure is low.

Slash, firewood and thinning rules

This is where boards make beetles. CSU says Ips prefer freshly cut, moist pine and spruce, and PlantTalk says they can complete their life cycle in a slash pile in about six weeks. Wildfire mitigation projects that leave green slash piled under living pines from spring to fall are a common cause of local Ips outbreaks. Fact sheet 5.558 says never to stack green or infested conifer wood next to living conifers, and to chip it, haul it or scatter it so it dries. Once the bark pulls away easily, the wood is no longer suitable for Ips. Thinning is still the right long-term fix. CSU says mature Colorado forests often carry about twice as many trees per acre as stands that resist mountain pine beetle, and CSFS calls thinning the most successful way to improve tree vigor. Just make chipping or hauling part of the same contract, finished the same week. Our guide on setting up a wildfire defensible space program covers how to plan that work. Owners get a say here too. C.R.S. 38-33.3-106.5(1)(e) lets an owner remove trees for defensible space under a written plan from CSFS, a certified local planner or the fire district. The owner must register the plan with the association before work starts, and the work must follow the association's standards on slash removal, stump height, revegetation and contractors. If you have no written slash standard, adopt one: chipped or hauled within a set number of days, never stacked against a living pine.

A sample year and wording to copy

September to October: fall survey, tag and map infested and high-value trees. November board meeting: approve removal bids and the spray list. November to May: fell and treat tagged trees, finished before mid-June. April to June: spray listed trees, done by July 1. All year: slash chipped or hauled within the contract deadline. Motion: "Move that the association hire [contractor] to remove and treat the [number] infested pines on the October survey map by [date] at a cost not to exceed $[amount], with all wood chipped, peeled or hauled to an approved disposal site, and that the treasurer pay it from [account]." Owner notice: "Bark beetles have killed [number] pines on our common areas this year. Infested trees will be removed this winter so they do not spread beetles to healthy trees. If you thin trees on your lot, please chip or haul fresh pine and spruce slash right away and do not stack green firewood near living pines. Fresh-cut wood draws Ips beetles." Contract clause: "Contractor shall not leave cut pine or spruce material on site for more than [number] days, and shall not stack such material within [distance] of a living conifer."

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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