This report presents the broad range of mitigation strategies associated with the management of mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins), including methods that are currently utilized or proposed for controlling beetle populations, the manner in which the effectiveness of these approaches is monitored and assessed and, finally, the role that remotely sensed data may play in a large-area monitoring system. To this end, the authors first review the goals of effectiveness monitoring and introduce a general classification system to clarify the purpose and practice of efficacy monitoring. Based on these principles, the review is then structured around effectiveness evaluations for managing forest pests, primarily mountain, southern, and western pine beetles throughout North America. These evaluations are grouped by management strategy: silvicultural treatments; prescribed burns; and the use of attractants, repellants, and insecticides. Finally, the authors propose the use of remotely sensed data as a complementary tool for monitoring changes in the extent and severity of mountain pine beetle damage across large areas.--Document.

"The compilation of papers in this proceedings is based on a symposium sponsored by the Insect and Diseases Working Group (D5) at the 2007 Society of American Foresters (SAF) convention in Portland, Oregon. The selection of topics parallels the research priorities of the Western Bark Beetle Research Group (WBBRG) (USDA Forest Service, Research and Development), which had been recently formed at the time of the symposium. Reflecting a unique partnership within the Forest Service, each paper was jointly prepared by a research scientist with the WBBRG and one or more entomologists with Forest Health Protection (USDA Forest Service, State and Private Forestry). Among these papers is a description of the currently elevated impacts of bark beetles in the Western United States; descriptions of the current state of knowledge of bark beetle response to vegetation management and also to climate change; discussions of the complex interactions of bark beetles and fire and of the complex ecological and socioeconomic impacts of infestations; an overview of the use of semiochemical (behavioral chemicals)-based technology for conifer protection; and a case study exemplifying efforts to assess risks posed by nonnative invasive bark beetles." --