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Why Are So Many Trees Dying in Colorado?

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On a recent trip on I-70 to evaluate some land for a client, I was confronted with sad but beautiful image of red forests stretching for miles across the hills. The image of a red "evergreen" contrasting against the green scenery is mesmerizing at first until you take a closer look at red death destroying millions of trees in Colorado. Beetle epidemics across the western United States are becoming more obvious every season with entire landscapes turning red and brown as trees die. In northwest Colorado the beetle epidemics, triggered by extended drought in aging forests, are intensifying at an alarming rate, and there is little that can be done to stop them. Actions can be taken to protect high value areas such as ski areas, developed campgrounds and trees in people’s yards. Hastening Death: Pine beetles carry a fungus on their body and legs. Once they enter the tree, the fungus multiplies and spreads. This blue stain fungus blocks the transport of water up the tree’s trunk
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How much you would need to afford rent in Colorado?

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There is nowhere in this country where someone working a full-time minimum wage job could afford to rent a two-bedroom apartment. Downsizing to a one-bedroom will only get you so far on minimum wage. Such housing is affordable in only 12 counties located in Arizona, Oregon and Washington states, according to the report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. You would have to earn $17.14 an hour, on average, to be able to afford a modest one-bedroom apartment without having to spend more than 30 percent of your income on housing, a common budgeting standard. Make that $21.21 for a two-bedroom home -- nearly three times the federal minimum wage of $7.25. The minimum hourly wage required to afford rent on a two-bedroom apartment, of course, depends on where you live -- ranging from a low of $11.46 in some counties in Georgia to a high of $58.04 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The most expensive state for housing is Hawaii, where workers would need to make $35.20 an hour to afford
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Living Green in Colorado: Air Sealing Materials

if you’re considering some do-it-yourself weatherization projects, make sure you’re using the right air-sealing materials for the job: Caulk — Seals gaps of less than ½ inch. Select grade (interior, exterior, high temperature) based on application Spray foam ,— Fills large cracks and small holes. It can be messy (use light weigh disposable latex gloves. If you do get some on your hands you can use kerosene or rubbing alcohol to remove the foam from your hands) consider new latex-based foams. Do not us near flammable, applications (e.g., flue vents). ho not use expanding types on windows and doors Backer rod — Closed-cell foam or rope caulk. Press into crack or gap with screwdriver or -putty knife. Often used with caulk around window and door rough openings Housewrap — Installed over exterior sheathing. Must be sealed with housewrap tape or caulk to form an airtight seal. Resists water but is not a vapor barrier. (Mainly used in unfinished crawl spaces) Polyethylene plastic — This i
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Denver’s average home sale price hits record $487,974 in April

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Home sales in metro Denver took an unexpected dip in April, but that didn’t prevent home prices from reaching new highs or temper the frenzy for lower-price properties, according to a report this week from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors. The average price of a single-family home sold in metro Denver reached a new high of $487,974, up 4.2 percent from March and 10.3 percent from a year ago. Buyers closed on 4,389 residential properties last month, according to Wednesday’s report, down 7.4 percent from the number of homes sold in March and down 4 percent from the same month a year ago. The number of homes and condos available for sale at the end of April rose 8.9 percent from the 5,361 on the market at the end of March, a much larger percentage increase than is usually seen between the two months. Very expensive properties can skew the average home price. Another way to look at prices is the median, or the point where half the homes sold cost more and half cost less. T
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Can Your Home Survive a Wildfire?

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Whether a home survives a wildfire is not random, nor is it a function of luck, most homes that exhibited attributes promoted by the FireSmart program -- including keeping combustible vegetation away from the house, uncluttered yards and low-flammability roofs and surfaces -- survive fires. It seems clear that the survival of homes was a function of resistance to ignition and not a random event or a matter of luck, Beyond doubt, risk mitigation (FireSmart) guidelines demonstrated their effectiveness in mitigating risk under the harshest of wildfire conditions. Most homes caught on fire as the result of embers from the forest fire landing on their property. "Based on site visits, no instances were observed where home ignition could confidently be attributed to direct contact by flames of the burning forest, and there were very few observations where home ignition was likely due only to radiant heat from the forest. Other studies have shown that embers generated by burning vege
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