A mysterious malady has killed off nearly one-fifth of Colorado's aspens. But forest ecologists have struggled to explain the widespread die-off, known as Sudden Aspen Decline.

Wind fall trees an obstacle

The winds came east out of the Chugach Mountains and caused damage to forest, unlike anything we have seen in over 50 years. It is going to be expensive and time consuming to clear the windfall.

At least 50,000 homes and businesses lost power late Tuesday, and outages continued through Wednesday.

Damage assessment underway due to fallen trees, hanging debris