LARAMIE (AP) - Timber industry representatives say clear-cut logging should be used to help slow the spread of bark beetles in the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest.

At a meeting last week between timber industry representatives and U.S. Forest Service officials, the timbermen said they could be part of the solution to the growing bark beetle problem. But if nothing is done, they said, the forest will suffer.

"We're there. The timber's dying," said Bill Petersmann, a forester with Bighorn Logging. "We should be growing new trees right now."

Petersmann said logging could help remove infested trees and promote new growth in the forest.

But Mary Peterson, forest supervisor for Medicine Bow-Routt, said even trees that are killed by bark beetles can serve a purpose; when left in the forest, they will eventually topple and degrade into the soil, providing nutrients for plants and habitat for animals.

Brush Creek-Hayden district ranger Scott Armentrout urged the timber industry representatives to express their opinions during the environmental assessments of timber sales. Armentrout said too often only environmentalists and off-road enthusiasts comment during environmental assessments, while the timber industry remains silent.

Bark beetles burrow under bark and leave stands of rusty brown pines in swaths across some of the West's most scenic vistas. Warmer winters in recent years have allowed more bark beetles to survive the winter in Colorado and Wyoming, while drought conditions in parts of both states have left trees weaker and less suited to fending off bark beetles.

Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., said last week that a bill in the U.S. Senate would allow thinning of forests as a long-term strategy for fighting bark beetles.