This is a fun topic for new and old neighbors.  We invite your story by adding a comment.
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From our neighbor Mary Gilkison:

"There seems to be a lot more fox activity in GM Estates this year.  Our neighbors across the street have a fox den in their yard and we often see the adult foxes coming into our backyard looking for food sources.  The foxes don't seem concerned about people and stroll down the street and sidewalks during the day.  This afternoon, we found the paw of a small dog in our back yard.  It had been freshly removed, though we didn't find any other parts in our yard.  It might be a good idea to warn neighbors that keeping their small pets outside during the day may not be safe anymore.  If the foxes are comfortable in our neighborhood, the coyotes will soon move in as well."

Please comment on this blog post with additional information regarding tree damage and remediation efforts.

NOTE: Subsequent to this blog, recommendations for tree service have been received.  These can be found on 
http://www.greenmountainestates.org/tree-care.html

We received two comments within a couple of days in late March, 2015.

#1

I got a call back from the City of Lakewood forestry expert, John Dzialo (not sure I got the spelling right). He said he’s been getting lots of calls about distressed trees and they just had a meeting to discuss city trees that are all presenting brown/burnt needles. He said the suspect is the quick severe freeze(s?) over the last winter. The city is taking a wait and see approach, hoping most established trees can recover. He said he may come by to look at our trees. I told him our bushes and others in the neighborhood are also showing stress and he said that would probably be due to the same issue.  So I’m hopeful our trees aren’t all dying. Whew!

Actually the arborist came out and said our trees have beetle kill. :( We are going to lose 3 trees. Maybe if others have the same problem, we can get a group discount. 


#2

I notice that there are three ponderosa pine trees within a block of the Alaska Drive/DeVinney Drive intersection that show signs of stress.  One looks mostly dead.  I'm not an expert, but it sure seems like this could be a problem for neighbors who also have ponderosa pine trees in their yards.  Is there a possibility that the GMCA could take advantage of economies of scale and arrange with a tree service to offer protective tree care to members of the association at a reduced cost?

Lakewood Website Resources

Forestry Home Page
Tree Contractor Information (must have a Lakewood Tree Contractor’s License)
Tree Information and Resources

Contact Information:
Urban Parks Division
2775 S. Estes St.
Lakewood, CO 80226
Direct: 720-963-5240

Anyone who can add to this knowledge base, whether with additional damage descriptions, successful cures, or perhaps most helpful, names of successful Tree Contractors, PLEASE post here by adding a comment.

We live on S. Alkire and have lived in the neighborhood almost two years now. We have had two incidents now that packages have been stolen from our front porch that I'd like to report.

About two months ago, my husband had received a package, and he got notification from USPS that it had arrived. When we got home from work, it wasn't here. USPS swore that they left it at the correct address, so sadly, we could only assume that someone stole it from our front porch before we got home.

Yesterday, we left a package on the front porch to be picked up from UPS, around 7:15 am. When I left the house at 8:30 am, the package was gone, so I assumed UPS already picked it up. Well, UPS stopped by later that morning to pick up the package, and they don't have it in their system as getting picked up by another driver. Disappointingly enough, my husband and I wonder if this package wasn't stolen as well. We just can't imagine who would do this in our neighborhood, especially so early in the morning.

I thought that this might be something for our neighbors to keep an eye out for. I now we will be doing our best to avoid getting deliveries when no one is home, and will plan to drop packages off going forward.

Thanks for sharing,
Jaime Goddard

The following comment was received from our bulletin contact form.  Your comments are invited...

"My beautiful 60-70 foot Scotch pine tree got infested with bark beetles this Spring, believed to be some mountain and some possibly red turpentine.  Just another heads up to folks in the hood that you can lose an iconic, invaluable piece of your property in a matter of months if you are not careful to treat your trees.  I wanted to treat the trees in our easement, but I heard my neighbor stopped to people I hired from doing so while I was at work because they don't like chemicals.  I checked the MSDS (material safety data sheet) for the chemicals used to ensure minimal exposure, but it is likely that if people want zero chemicals applied, we will have zero trees. I was told that once one tree is infested, there's a much greater chance that all other adjacent trees will be at much higher risk.   I work for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and have spent my career as an environmental engineer, and I understand very clearly trade offs necessary for using responsible or green chemicals to treat infestations. Perhaps an article and some suggested arborists or products would be helpful to our neighbors?"

I live [on] S. Cole Dr. A couple of weeks ago we noticed that our 
windshield was cracked when we were cleaning the snow off the 
windshield. Then last week we got a call from a windshield service 
asking us if we needed any repair work done. When my wife asked how they 
knew that , they hung up. Maybe a coincidence, but I'm wondering if 
anyone else I'm the neighborhood had a similar experience." 

Phil is quick to say it might be just a coincidence. The hang up seems 
peculiar. And it would make for a clever scam. Phil will mention it to 
our neighborhood police liaison to see if the police department has any 
pattern. We are more curious than alarmed. 

As always, like the Neighborhood Watch advises, be attentive. We have a 
wonderful neighborhood, one of the very safest in Lakewood. Part of 
that is due to the fact that our neighbors pay attention. 

Thanks Phil.