Tree Protectors plus

For the extra protection this is what you need.  Or maybe you could get away with this.  Sorry, here's the best--$45. 

Think Like a Beast Products has always been about the ability to grow a tree.  In Colorado and other states the state is required to provide "appropriate and sufficient protection" against damage from deer, elk, and other animals.

They don't do it.  Part of the reason is that it is a real challenge.  And there are other priorities.

Tree Cages really work.  It is open source.  You can do it yourself.

The home stretch

I am not embarrassed to say that it is smoke and mirrors.  Or, rather, cables.

Have you ever had one of those plants that, no matter how you spin it or prop it up, it still falls down?

The tree on the left still cannot stand-up on its own.  Sometimes it does, but if the three cords are removed it is likely to fall all the way to the ground.

Rule #1 Laziness

Small things can have a huge impact and it is best to take care of them.  Otherwise, years of growth, training, and expectations may be lost.

The leaves are busting and sometimes the tiny branches cannot handle the weight.  One tug on anything reachable can bring the whole tree down.

Almost Spring

And now, today, close to a year later.  So you want to live in Colorado?

May 16 and still no leaves.  But they are close.

The astute observer will see that they are tied together.  I use this old dog fence wire I dug up in my yard--it is plastic with a metal core and you can use it both as cord and a twist tie.

The tree on the left, the most recent to be liberated from a tree cage, is still a little bit wobbly.  The rubber pencil thing.  Jimmy legs.  Without the support from the more-upright, stronger tree on the right, it will lean.  Depending on the wind it may lean a lot.  I believe it always helps to "harden" plants and aspen have to endure a lot in the way of wind.  But even fast-growing trees have limits.  They cannot change from rubbery to woody overnight or perhaps even within a few years.  This is an accelerated upward process.

And, now they that they are going to explode with leaves--it happens within a few days--they are going to become heavier on top.  As fast as they will grow they will not harden that fast.  Uncontrolled, I believe, the leaning will become worse.

They are extremely healthy and will grow quickly now but they are not safe yet.  One branch within reach and the whole tree can be pulled down and destroyed.

$30 for a 150 foot roll of chicken wire. 

You can do it yourself and it is very simple if you buy this.  Just cut it to the appropriate length and crimp/bend over the edges for strength and safety.  If you have more than one or two, or if you have  done it before, you should buy a whole roll.

For aspen in particular the diameter is fairly consistent--it doesn't have to be much larger at the bottom--and this works great.

The Think Like A Beast Tree Protector is an open source product.

For larger trees 2" chicken wire/poultry netting works perfectly.  It is light and inexpensive.

Spring, 2016

This has not changed at all.

Game damage prevention materials

 33-3-111 report to general assembly

(1) Commencing with the second regular session of the sixty-seventh general assembly, the division shall report at least annually, by January 31 of each year, to the senate agriculture and natural resources committee and the house of representatives agriculture, livestock, and natural resources committee, or their successor committees, on game damage and game damage prevention issues. Such report shall include, at a minimum:

(a) (I) The herd management objectives set by the division and whether those objectives are being met. In providing this information, the division shall supply the actual number of herd animals by game unit.

(II) If any of the herd management objectives of the division are not being met, the division shall set forth in detail its plans, strategies, and efforts that it is using or intends to use in order to achieve compliance with the objectives.

(b) The number of requests for game damage prevention materials, the timeliness of the division in responding to such requests, the quantity and types of temporary and permanent materials issued, the number of requests for materials denied, and, to the extent that such information is available, the adequacy of materials in preventing game damage;

(c) The number of permits to take wildlife requested pursuant to section 33-3-106, the number of permits issued, the amount of wildlife killed under such permits, the number of permits denied, and the reasons for denial;

(d) The number of claims for damages submitted under this section, how many of those claims were settled and the monetary amounts of the settlements, the number of claims pending at the time of the report, the number of claims denied, and the reasons for denial;

(e) Any other costs incurred by the division in administering this article.


----------------------

This one has changed quite a bit (see annotation):

 (1) (a) Where wildlife is causing excessive damage to property, as determined by the division after consultation with the property owner, the division is authorized to issue a permit to the property owner, the property owner's designee, or to such other person selected by the division to kill a specified number of the species of wildlife causing such excessive damage. Upon request by the property owner, whenever the wildlife causing the excessive damage exceeds the wildlife objective set by the division for that species for that geographical area for the current year, the division is encouraged to issue a permit under this section. Any determination by the division that the damage being caused is not excessive may, upon application by the property owner, be reviewed by the commission.

(b) No permit to take wildlife pursuant to this subsection (1) shall be issued or used in violation of any local restriction on firearm use.

http://www.extension.colostate.edu/gilpin/natu/natu_docs/aspen.shtml