06/26/01 -- Beetle threatens $4 billion of British Columbia forest

Beetle threatens $4 billion of British Columbia forest

VICTORIA - Premier Gordon Campbell declared war yesterday on a pesky beetle that has infested $4.2 billion worth of British Columbia timber - a stretch of forest twice the size of Vancouver Island.

He announced a government task force to map a strategy to combat the largest infestation of mountain pine beetles in Canadian history.

The beetle is chewing its way through lodgepole pine forests in B.C.'s northern Interior, threatening the economic livelihood of more than 30 communities and 25,000 people, Campbell said.

Speaking in Prince George, Campbell announced that a private consulting firm will seek input over the next five weeks to prepare a strategy. Forest companies, timber licensees, local communities, aboriginals and other affected parties will participate. A draft plan should be ready in August, and a final strategy will be delivered to the Forests Ministry by September, he said.

"We'll do what we can do before September, but as we put together this, really what is going to be a war on the pine beetle, it's important to know what your plan is going to be and then execute your plan," he said.

Campbell said the strategy will likely include relaxing harvesting regulations to allow the cutting of vast tracks of beetle-infested forests.

"I think there will be a significant increase in cutting in some parts of the area, but at the end of the day, the real issue that we have to deal with is the fact that 25,000 people and 30 communities are facing a significant crisis," he said.

Prior to last month's provincial election, Campbell told northern communities he would declare the area an emergency management zone.

"We believe there is an emergency now, but before we declare a zone, we have to do both the technical and the scientific work to declare it," he said yesterday.

Campbell said he's asking for help from the federal government to fight the pest. He said he wrote to Environment Minister David Anderson, the federal Liberal caucus, the Canadian Alliance's B.C. caucus and two B.C. New Democratic MPs.

Ottawa can provide funding to help with forest regeneration, social and storage costs, he said.

Greg Jadrzyk, Northern Forests Products Association president, said the beetles eventually kill the trees they infest, destroying their economic viability and creating forest-fire hazards.

It will take up to 30 years for beetle-infested forests to begin regenerating without government action, he said.

The beetle-infested trees turn red before drying up and dying. "In some of the hardest-hit areas, it's just a sea of red," Jadrzyk said.

Cold snaps of minus-25 Celsius in the early fall or late spring, or sustained temperatures of minus-40 can decimate beetle populations, but winters have been relatively warm in recent years.

LOAD-DATE: June 26, 2001

Document 290 of 331.

Search Terms: forest OR rainforest OR climate

To narrow your search, please enter a word or phrase: