Taos Soil and Water Conservation District and state forestry division want to assuage fears regarding a particularly ravenous caterpillar that defoliated certain evergreen trees in El Salto and other parts of the county this year.

“The epidemics generally last about 2-3 years,” said Jack Carpenter, a retired U.S. Forest Service silviculturist who produced a Douglas fir Tussock moth fact sheet available through the conservation district. “Outbreaks develop explosively, and after about 3 years, subside abruptly. Between outbreaks, this insect is seldom seen.”