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| Devastated mountainside; Lodge Pole Pines dying by the millions in Colorado. |
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The Tree Whisperer's
Colorado Lodge Pole Pines InitiativeThe initiative was started in November of 2007. The intent of this initiative is to restore health and growth to Colorado Lodge Pole Pines by using the Green Centrics™ holistic tree healing system to treat large tracts of land effectively and efficiently.
Results will be shown from multiple sites in Eagle and Grand Counties. More sites will be added in time.
Please scroll down to read an explanation of the results so far.
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We recommend the adoption of a new motto: "IF ITS GREEN-LEAVE IT IN THE SCENE. IF ITS BROWN-CUT IT DOWN."
The prevailing thought is that Lodge Pole Pine trees with many beetle "hits" are considered "dead already."
But, if a tree is still green, we are recommending that it be left living and standing. We feel that it has a chance to regain health and grow again, especially if it is in the Eagle and Grand county, Colorado, areas after receiving Green Centrics holistic energy treatment from Dr. Jim Conroy.
The exception would be if the tree provides a clear structural or fire danger.
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| June, 2009: "Green Scene" Lodge Pole Pine tree's canopy is still green despite the many beetle 'hits' on the trunk seen in other photos on The Firehouse page. |
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PRINCIPLES OF THE GREEN CENTRICS SYSTEM, TREE WHISPERING and THE LODGE POLE PINES
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Dr. Jim Conroy’s no-product, energy-healing system works to re-establish health within the internal functionality of the trees, and to increase their health from the inside-out.
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He is able to treat large acreages at a time.
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This work is not about excluding—or killing—the beetles. They are less attracted to health, actively growing trees. The beetles can find sick trees elsewhere.
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The healing work does not involve spraying the forests with chemicals or using any products. It is about working WITH Nature...see #1, 2 & 3 above.
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Dr. Jim Conroy and Ms. Basia Alexander are the facilitators to heal client’s trees so that they are less attractive to the beetles. The healing work doesn’t ‘belong’ to us, we belong to it.
SUMMARY OF RESULTS ON LODGE POLE PINES
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Trees are showing lush new growth in many locations as of June 2009. Many properties are featured with “befores and afters” pictures on www.StrengthenForests.com. Results are updated as best as Basia is able in her schedule.
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All of the sites are demonstrating late stages of death of those trees that were heavily infected prior to October of 2007.
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All sites are showing high tree survival rates and lush new growth in the remaining trees, even after going through the 2008 beetle fly.
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The Story of the Colorado Lodge Pole Pines: stress and loss of inner functionality The Tree Whisperer, Dr. Jim Conroy's insight into what is going on for the Lodge Pole Pine trees in Colorado does not entirely follow the prevailing attitudes about this problem. While he agrees that the Pine Bark Beetle and the blue-stain fungi actually kill the trees, he does not agree that they are the cause of death.
Just as we humans are susceptible to illnesses when we are weakened by multiple stresses, trees also lose internal health and functionality when subjected to stress factors. The Lodge Pole Pine trees have undergone years of stresses including but not limited to drought, pollution, fire management and climate changes.
It is easy to see that such stressors have weakened their inner constitutions.
For example: At this Grand County, Colorado site pictured below, the homeowner talks about a variety of stressors which she feels has weakened the trees.
- Snow pack melts early
- Drought conditions prevail in summer
- Beetle populations have increased due to warmer, shorter winters
- This cycle has repeated in the last 10 years that she can remember.
However, on her property, there is an exception. She has a stream flowing through. In the photos below, see that the trees near the water have survived under the same Beetle populations as killed the brown trees above, away from the water.
Dr. Conroy says that the trees near the water are not as stressed. So, even though the beetle is present, the trees are better able to survive.
Explanation continued below the photos....
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| Note, on this hillside--tree stumps on the upper ridge, dead and browning pines just below and green trees at the base. |
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| Note, one of the green pines at the base of the hill. Why is it green? |
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| Note, this is the same tree as pictured above. It is showing Pine Bark Beetle holes. Why isn't it dead? |
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So, it is easy to see that conditions have weakened the Lodge Pole Pines' constitutions.
Specifically, how? Even if you didn't have a high school science class, you will understand this explanation.
Trees may not have hearts, but all trees have exquisitely designed circulation systems which should be moving a finely balanced mix of water, nutrients(from the soil) and food (sugars from the leaves) throughout the body of the tree all the way from the tiniest root hair to the top-most leaf or needle and back. This process fuels the growth processes which involve the division of cells throughout the entire tree which leads to growth in the roots, trunk, stems and leaves or needles. These interactive and interdependent growth processes should continue in self-perpetuating feedback loops like an upward spiral.
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Four key sets of feedback loops need to happen interactively:
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Unimpeded circulation of fluids all around the organism
Right balance of ingredients (water, nutrients, sugars)
Rapid and vigorous cell division ongoing for growthDynamic balance of self-perpetuation growth process feedback loops.
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For the Lodge Pole Pines, all four of these inner functions have been compromised.
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There is barely enough circulation of fluids to keep the needles green but not enough to fuel growth. The fluids or "sap" has 'thickened"–wrong balance of 'ingredients'–so that it does not easily move. Cell division has slowed or stopped in accordance with the above. The interdependent interactions aren't connected or functional and the tree is on a declining spiral, using up its resources.
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Then, along comes the Pine Bark Beetle.
These beetles and the Lodge
Pole Pines have shared an eco-system for millenia. Why are they so
deadly NOW?
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First of all, the trees are weak and not growing as described above.
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Secondly, the beetles have 'enjoyed' the relatively warmer winters
so their population is higher than in historical times and their
burrowing action further compromises the circulation systems of the
trees.
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Thirdly, the beetles carry a fungus into the tree which is also dangerous to the tree and which stains the wood blue.
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But, most importantly, sick trees 'call' to the beetles. Science
has shown that sick plants send out pheromones and other chemicals
which attract insects.
Healthy, actively growing trees do not tend to
attract insects or diseases and can usually deal with a small
population without harm.
So, Dr. Conroy's conclusion is that the Pine Bark Beetles and blue
stain fungi may be "finishing them off" but the trees are dying anyway.
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The pragmatic conclusion that most professionals come to is that this
is a "natural" process and we shouldn't interfere with Mother Nature.
They say simply that people need to be prepared for fire danger...and
the forests will repopulate in time.
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Many homeowners don't agree.
Losing their own trees–as well as the trees of the entire vast eco-systems involved–poses many grave risks such as catastrophic wildfire, flooding and landslides, deepening of the recent droughts, high winds and further local weather shifts as well as economic consequences such as lower property value and loss of tourism. And then, there is the loss of the beauty of the mountainsides.
There are sprays. Many homeowners in effected areas are applying sprays to deter the beetles at the risk of adding questionable substances to their personal environments. We have talked with homeowners and have heard their concerns. At the scale of hundreds of acres––or of whole mountainsides––applying substances is not practical.
A few homeowners are choosing another way to save their trees. They are asking for holistic energy healing for their Lodge Pole Pines and other trees. They want their trees to become healthy again so that the trees' natural defenses will work again.
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| Holistic healing methodologies have been proven to work on people. Hospitals are integrating Touch for Health, Reiki, acupuncture and other forms of healing into their programs.
Do you have personal experience with some kind of alternative or complementary approach? If you have, you're in good company.
And Ohio State University study shows that 70% of older adults use some form of alternative medicine.
The American Psychological Association says that alternative health care is gaining steam: nearly half of all Americans report use.
And the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health released a paper in 2007 about the widespread use of Complementary and Alternative Medicines.
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Why not for trees?
The strength or weakness of a tree's internal
feedback loops is often overlooked because conventional tree-health
approaches have no way to improve this complex inner functionality.
The illustration shows the tree's internal feedback loops malfunctioning or compromised.
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Conventional care approaches usually involve putting substances
on the outside of trees and plants and hoping that the tree or plant
can both cope with the invasive nature of the substance and heal its
own internal functionality. Sometimes this works. Sometimes it
doesn't.
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| Dr. Jim Conroy’s Green Centrics system of holistic, energy-based methodologies
can and does address the 4 problems that Lodge Pole Pine trees have in
ways that conventional approaches cannot:
Re-establishing and strengthening the circulation "pump".Influencing the balance of fluid 'ingredients' so that they can easily move through the circulation system.
Renewing rapid cell division so that new growth occurs.Re-connecting the interdependent interactions so that the growth process builds and reinforces itself in a positive loop.
These are not outlandish claims. Alternative health care
practitioners do these things every day for people with their
energy-based, intuitive and non-linear skills and methodologies.
Trees are alive, too, and respond similarly.
The illustration shows a tree where its internal feedback loops of functionality are all connected and operating together.
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ConclusionsJust as with your own health, prevention is better than cure. When Dr. Conroy can use his holistic, energy-based system to strengthen trees before they have been subjected to massive or repeated beetle 'hits', there is a far better chance survival for the tree.
In the work done since November of 2007, Dr. Conroy has found that trees that were already badly 'hit' and showing signs of reddening were generally not able to survive. But, Lodge Pole Pines that had a chance are continuing to survive and even thrive after his treatment. The chances that they will stay healthy despite yet another beetle-fly in Spring of 2009 are good.
The principle in operation is that of downward and upward spirals. Downward spirals self-perpetuate. But, so do upward spirals. Once healthy functions can be re-established inside of a living being––trees or people––it is likely that the feedback loops will inter-operate to continue an upward spiral toward even more health.
In this way, the Lodge Pole Pines and the homeowner-residents of Colorado may be able to survive their current crisis and avert certain otherwise predictable disasters.
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