Oregon Public Broadcasting

One of the big concerns about pine beetle infestations in Northwest forests is that they would increase the risk of wildfire. But a new study spawned by NASA satellite images concludes that may not be true.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin have been poring over satellite pictures recently made available by the space agency. In particular, they've focused on lodgepole pine forests near Yellowstone.

They've studied the areas that look green and healthy and the large tracts where beetles have killed trees.

Researcher Martin Simard says the conventional wisdom is that the dead, dry trees are more likely to cause huge, destructive wildfires. But he says the insect-ravaged trees lose their needles and the flammable oils within them.

Martin Simard:  "The most important fuels for these types of fires are the actual needles. So once the needles fall on the ground, all of that fuel is essentially gone."

Simard says those dead needles may increase the chance of lower level ground fires. But he says they decrease the chance of the higher intensity crown fires at the forest canopy.

Oregon Field Guide