City officials plan to spray thousands of forested acres in June to halt the spread of two insects that are defoliating and killing trees in southwestern Colorado Springs.

The western spruce budworm and the Douglas fir Tussock moth are native to forests in the Pikes Peak region, but have been attacking trees at an alarming rate in a rare dual outbreak. In June, the city plans to spray 3,600 acres with a naturally occurring pathogen that will attack both insects’ larva and hopefully curtail their spread.

While other local forested areas have not seen a similar outbreak, which strips the trees of their needles, managers of county, state and private property are girding themselves to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to spray several thousand more acres. Last week, El Paso County committed to pay for its portion of the spraying – 350 acres in Jones Park if experts find that park’s trees are in danger.

The Broadmoor Hotel, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and Colorado Parks and Wildlife also have made tentative commitments to pay for spraying. All told, the outbreak could impact 6,000 acres.

At a Jan. 12 meeting, Commissioner Sallie Clark cautioned that dead trees could add to the area’s already significant fire danger and threaten the tourism appeal of southwestern Colorado Springs, home to several popular, scenic canyons.

“I just think it’s really important that we get ahead of this. I’ve seen what has happened in other areas of the state with the mountain pine beetle,” she said, referring to the insect that has attacked lodgepole pine forest around Colorado. “The fact that we are so dependent on tourism (means) we want to make sure that our forests look well and healthy.”

Last summer, stands of trees around the Mount Cutler Trail went bare after an insect attack. While the trees appear dead, they are alive but could die, Colorado Springs city forester Jay Hein told The Gazette in October.

The county paid a private forester in October to examine the trees in Jones Park for a similar outbreak, said Tim Wolken, the executive director of the county’s community services department.

“She didn’t feel as if it were a major, major issue for Jones Park at this point,” Wolken told the commissioners. “But certainly it’s something we can keep an eye on.”

Per its agreement with the city, the county will pay $22,750 to treat Jones Park, at a rate of $65 an acre. The county will reassess the park’s trees in April to decide if it will back out of the agreement and get a full refund, county officials said.

The city’s treatment of thousands of acres in North Cheyenne Cañon Park and other areas could cost more than $200,000. Other areas of concern are Cheyenne Mountain State Park, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and The Broadmoor Seven Falls. The Broadmoor is owned by the Denver-based Anschutz Corp., whose Clarity Media Group owns The Gazette.

U.S. Forest Service land serves as the backdrop – and in some cases abuts – several of the those spaces and parks, and Forest Service officials have told the city that they do not intend to treat for either insect.

The Gazette reported in October that the federal agency views the insects as a natural part of the forest’s life cycle, and that it prefers to allow them to die-off naturally, which usually happens after a two- or three-year cycle. The Forest Service did not return calls for comment for this story.

Colorado movie massacre gunman James Holmes listens at a court hearing before beginning his life sentence in August 2015.