If you need help finding dead trees and bark beetles, Tom Smith is your guy. He works for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, identifying and managing tree diseases and pests. He calls himself a "bugs and rot" man.
Smith says if you want to find bugs and rot close to the Bay Area, head up to Mount Diablo, in Contra Costa County. So we meet there, in a parking lot at the base of the mountain. He points up a steep hill to a green pine forest blemished by brown, dying trees.
