© Environment News Service (ENS) 2001
June 27, 2001

PRINCE GEORGE, British Columbia, Canada, June 27, 2001 (ENS) - An epidemic infestation of mountain pine beetles is ravaging British Columbia forests, destroying trees worth billions of dollars to the provincial economy. Tuesday, newly elected Premier Gordon Campbell struck a government task force to address the crisis.

The beetle attacks lodgepole pine, the main species of commercially harvested timber, particularly in the interior portions of the province.

"The mountain pine beetle has already infested $4.2 billion worth of timber in B.C.'s Interior, and it threatens the jobs and livelihoods of communities all across the North," Campbell said. "It's essential government act quickly to battle this epidemic.

Within an area of 5.7 million hectares, over 500,000 hectares of trees are infested, an area about twice the size of Vancouver Island. The destructive beetles have the potential to affect the economic stability of more than 30 communities and 25,000 families.

The Northern Pine Beetle Task Force will be chaired by Cariboo North Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) John Wilson. Prince George North MLA Pat Bell, Bulkley Valley-Stikine MLA Dennis MacKay and Prince George-Omenica MLA Paul Nettleton are the other members.

They will consult with forestry workers, communities, industry and other affected parties to identify public recommendations and solutions.

One immediate solution is to log the beetle infested trees. As of July 1, the allowable annual cut for the Quesnel timber supply area will be increased by about a third to help battle the mountain pine beetle epidemic, said B.C. chief forester Larry Pedersen.

The Cariboo Lumber Manufacturers' Association and the Northern Forest Products Association (NFPA) have been battling these beetles for several years. In 1999, they formed a joint emergency task force to help combat the infestation with representatives from nine timber companies.

"The task force has been working closely with the Ministry of Forests to direct harvesting operations into affected areas," the associations say.

In the 1999/2000 season, government and industry combined expenditures to fight the beetles topped $18 million and will likely exceed that figure this year, the industry estimates.

NFPA president Greg Jadrzyk warned in 1999, "Without a coordinated and long term strategy, the infestation could go through the roof next year. By the year 2002, it could more than quadruple in some areas of the province."

Tuesday, Minister of Forests Mike de Jong commissioned a public review of the mountain pine beetle problem to develop a comprehensive strategy for managing it.

The review will be conducted by R&S Rogers Consulting Inc. of Nanoose Bay, British Columbia which has consulted in the past for timber companies Weyerhauser and Fraser Mills as well as First Nations, a forest ministry spokesperson said.

The firm has been asked to seek input over the next five weeks from the forest industry, timber license holders, First Nations and mayors of towns and cities dependent on the logging industry.

The consulting firm will prepare a four part strategic plan that includes an assessment of the economic impact and available options, a detailed strategic plan and a management plan. A draft plan is to be completed in August and presented to key forestry representatives for discussion at workshops in the Cariboo, Prince George and Prince Rupert. The government wants an action plan by mid-September.

In the past, the beetles have been killed by sudden cold snaps (-25 degrees C) in the early fall or late spring, or sustained frigid winter temperatures (below -40). These can decimate beetle populations and help end serious outbreaks.

"The problem is," said a Forest Ministry spokesperson, "we've had such mild winters over past few years, that hasn't happened."

Paul George, founding director of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, a Vancouver based conservation group, says the massive beetle infestation is a direct result of global warming.

"Between the drought and global warming," says George, "these are perfect conditions for the beetle to proliferate. We haven't had a minus 30 degrees cold snap in a long time. We've been having long, dry summers."

"The trees are stressed," George says, "and logging spreads the beetles. Every time they take a truck with logs that have bark on them, the beetle infested bark drops off, and the beetles spread. Also, the beetles are good at spreading themselves. They get up above the crowns and move from tree to tree," he explains.

The current allowable annual cut for the area is about 18 million cubic meters a year. This annual harvest volume is largely directed at beetle control, the Ministry of Forests says. Other smaller mountain pine beetle epidemics occurred from the mid-1970s to 1980s in the Flathead Valley in southeastern British Columbia.

"Every time in past they've had smaller outbreaks, George recalls, "the Forest Ministry gives blanket rights to cut. They clearcut all the species, in fact the loggers want the more valuable species even more than the pine."

The Interior forests contain fir, cedar and spruce, tamarack, valuable yew, and deciduous birch and aspen trees in addition to the lodgepole pines so attractive to these beetles.

Dan Rollert, woods manager with the timber company Weldwood Quesnel, said, "We know that for every 100 infested trees we eliminate this year we prevent 500 trees or more from being infested next year."

Last season the industry harvested millions of infested trees. Rollert said, "Our companies are using the lowest impact harvesting methods possible to deal with this epidemic, and we are moving quickly to reforest harvested areas."

George says logging the infested areas is not the answer to the beetle problem. "We have a glut of wood already. The whole market is depressed, people are cutting all over the planet faster than ever."

Controlled burns is what the Western Canada Wilderness Committee recommends. George is critical of the provincial policy of not allowing a natural fire regime which would burn out the beetles. "If you get a big thunderstorm up there with thousands of lightning strikes, nature will burn it, creating a healthy mosaic of burned areas and young thriving areas," he says.

"We have to confront the root causes, says George. "Sure you can cut all these trees down. In the next generation there will be no jobs for loggers." Error: Unable to read footer file.