First Forest Division: Zombie Forest Quest

The grey and rust patches on the ridgelines above Aspen aren't a bad season. It's stands of Douglas Firs that have died during the ongoing beetle outbreak — and this year is likely to be worse after the extreme drought conditions that prevailed this winter.

On May 30th, 2026, Kairos Futura and the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies is recruting you to join the First Forest Division to deploy on the back of Aspen Mountain to do something about it. 100 volunteers. 10 Mission Teams. 6,000 trees protected in a single day — before the beetle flight window opens and and the beetles spread to more of the remaining healthy trees.

The Science

The Douglas-fir beetle uses its own chemical signal — a pheromone called MCH — to tell other beetles a tree is already full. Scientists replicated that molecule and put it in a small bubble cap the size of a poker chip. Staple one to a healthy tree and approaching beetles smell "no vacancy" and fly on. It's not a pesticide. It doesn't hurt the beetle or any other species. We learned the beetle's language and we're using it against the outbreak.

What You'll Do

• Attend a morning mission briefing led by ACES naturalists
• Join one of 10 Mission Teams, each assigned a sector of the mountain
• Apply MCH bubble caps to Douglas-fir trees across your grid
• Hunt for five hidden Forest Relics scattered through your sector by Kairos artists
• Report your patch count as your sector total climbs toward 6,000
• Celebrate at end of day with food, a dj, and a bonfire vibes

What to Bring

• Layers — it's cold at 8am at elevation, warm by midday
• Broken-in hiking boots — you'll be on-trail and light off-trail
• Water for 4 hours on the mountain
• Your own snacks for the shift
• A staple gun if you have it. A staple gun inventory will be sent out to mission members in early May.
• Everything else — patches, sector map, scavenger hunt clues — is provided at base camp

No Experience Needed

The patch technique takes about 30 seconds per tree and is taught at the morning briefing. You don't need forestry experience, special fitness, or any equipment of your own. You need to show up, follow your grid, and stay in your sector. Every person changes the total. The math doesn't work with 60.

Presented by

Kairos Futura is an Aspen-based arts futurist organization that uses creativity as a tool for ecological action. Their Burn Zone Lab brought artists and scientists into the Lake Christine wildfire scar to work alongside the U.S. Forest Service on hands-on restoration. The First Forest Division is the next chapter.

Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES) has educated for environmental responsibility in the Roaring Fork Valley since 1968. ACES naturalists lead the mission briefing, co-author the field guides, and will report beetle monitoring data back to every volunteer after the summer.

Permitted by the U.S. Forest Service. Pheromone patches provided by the State of Colorado.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher Kairos Futura