Montanans have grown accustomed to seeing forests turn from green to red to gray as a mountain pine beetle infestation works its way across the landscape. A new survey of sawmill owners in the state now shows what that means to the bottom line of the timber industry. Put simply, the value of a pine tree falls right along with its needles. “The longer you wait, the less value the landowner will get out of it,” said study co-author Dan Loeffler of the University of Montana’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research. “We’re not giving advice. We’re just quantifying how the industry views these trees.” Together with Nate Anderson of the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station in Missoula, Loeffler looked at what the beetle infestation did to the wood supply chain.