Kevin Laliberte
Editor, Smoky River Express

A relatively cold winter is creating optimism among Alberta environmental officials closely monitoring the mountain pine beetle situation. Duncan MacDonnell, spokesman for Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, told the Calgary Sun last month that despite human discomfort, the cold was a lifesaver for pine trees. “To stop the beetle, you need 12 hours of minus 40 degrees – if you can stay at minus 40 for 12 consecutive hours, that’s enough to kill the beetles,” MacDonnell said. “We had two cold snaps in January and early February, and in both cases, we hit that mark.” The burrowing insects are moving east from British Columbia, where officials have said that approximately 32 million acres of pines, or about 78 per cent of that province’s total, are doomed. Alberta officials are estimating that some three million lodgepole pines are doomed or already dead. The Alberta government has spent $138.5 million in the past two years in eradication efforts along with $200 million spent on Western Canada’s beetle war by the federal government. The politician overseeing Alberta’s war on the mountain pine beetle, meanwhile, wants to commit another $50 million in emergency funding (from the Sustainability Fund) this year to fight the tiny forest-eating pest. And Alberta Sustainable Resource Development Minister Ted Morton says that contrary to a lot of our critics, we’re making progress on that front. “We’re making progress because of the large amounts of money we’re throwing at the situation.” Morton says the money will be used to continue work identifying and removing infected trees and other operations. Money can only be withdrawn from the fund under certain criteria like emergencies such as fires or droughts. Wind-borne mountain pine beetles from decimated forests in British Columbia invaded Alberta by the millions in the summer of 2006. Researchers are conducting surveys this May to confirm predictions that cold snaps in late January and early February killed significant numbers of the beetle in northern Alberta. Morton says the numbers are still high in the north, but the trend is going down, adding the beetles are running out of food in B.C., lessening the intensity of the infestation and the threat to Alberta. The Edmonton Journal reported last week that beetles in the southern half of Alberta, however, appear to have weathered the winter without losing significant numbers. While optimistic about the war on pine beetles, Morton acknowledged that he sees no immediate relief coming to a forestry industry besieged by a housing slump in the United States, a high Canadian dollar, rising transportation costs and dropping commodity prices.

Copyright © 2002 Smoky River Express. All Rights Reserved.
No part may be reproduced without written permission.

View our Privacy Statement.
Send website suggestions to the Webmaster