Forestry experts are projecting one of the biggest beetle flights on record Local foresters say the mountain pine beetle is responsible for killing more than 4-million trees last year. They say due to a lack of moisture in the Black Hills area this year's beetle flight is projected to destroy even more.

Forest management consultant Frank Carroll says. "The pine beetles are now in full attack mode. Little pioneer beetles are attacking trees. They're boring into those trees to see if they'll make a suitable habitat. They're sending out a perfume telling other beetles 'come and attack this tree."

Carroll says they're still hope for curbing the bug this season. With the window to do so this season closing fast, he's urging property owners to spray their trees for the beetle as soon as possible. Carroll says, "We all want our house in the woods, and the point is that the house is in the woods. If it's going to be in the woods, we've got to do stuff to protect the woods. You have to make them as fire-proof as possible. You have to make them bug-proof as we can. So, for all those reasons, it's wonderful to live in the Black Hills, but we have a responsibility to take care of it."

He says property owners only have several days before the flight occurs and at that point there's little that can still be done to protect a tree.

Brendyn Medina.