In the February 1 print edition of the Daily News (page A7), MP Betty Hinton gives us some reassuring news on the mountain pine beetle infestation. "Is it a national disaster? No." Why? Because it is "mainly confined to B.C." Well, no doubt many people who read that were relieved. But if they were to visit the pine beetle website maintained by the Alberta Ministry of Sustainable Resource Development (run by the Hon. Ted Morton, who helped found Hinton's political party), they would discover that "an unprecedented massive flight of mountain pine beetles" into our neighbour province has led to somewhere between 800,000-1.5 million infested trees in northwestern Alberta. The beetles have made it across the Rockies, the last natural barrier stopping them before they head out on a long, gradual rampage that will not end until the Atlantic. To refer to this as "not a national disaster" because it's not quite yet halfway across the country is an example of very short-sighted thinking.
Cited article by Michele Young
Published February 1, 2007
©Copyright The Daily News in Kamloops
12 comments:
The O.P. refers to 'National Disaster' and later calls it a 'Natural Disaster'.
Make up your minds. You sound as indecisive as MP Hinton.
Regardless, the trees on PRIVATE property are NOT going to 'fall down' anytime soon so it should be up to the individual property owner to remove and/or dispose of them. It is nothing more than a matter of ESTHETICS. Who wants to show off their property with 'irregular' brown-needled conifers. My goodness! They act as if their property values will suffer. Oh, BOO HOO HOO!
Ummm ... I'm no expert, but I think the issue here is the environment overall, not esthetics -- I think most taxpayers care more about the forest industry and wildlife habitat, from that perspective it is a national disaster.
It's not a national disaster (that means that some sort of disaster has hit the entire country) nor is it a natural disaster (that means an Act of God such as earthquake, tsunami, hurricane, etc.). The best way to describe it is "environmental disaster" in that it is a naturally occuring phenomenon that humans can't control and causes significant economic and financial hardship.
Out east we have other worries, not the same pine beetle from B.C, but other forms of beetles/insects that attack wood (information via forestTalk):
The Brown Spruce Longhorn Beetle
The Emerald Ash Borer (already located further south in Ontario)
Bronze Birch Borer (Chatham, Thunder Bay, Ontario's)
Blackheaded Budworm (Nova Scotia)
Overall I would have to concede that these insects have been around for some time, and often introduced from other countries, they apparently find a way to acclimate here in Canada, but can not see ‘it taking a natural course’ and go away on its own. As much as I understand the livelihood the lumber industry presents here in B.C I also have a foot back East. I am of the opinion that the whole lumber industry should be looked at (and how we import good to insure no new infestations/introductions do not take place), hoping is not going to keep these infestation from meeting one another and crossing over into new territories.
That in my mind would be a national disaster, when our depletion of forestry reserve is not just taken out by over logging, but insect infestation, not just localized to B.C. but across Canada (Nova Scotia has already been performing controlled burns for the past 6 years).
I could also agree that it is an ‘environmental disaster’ but would argue that all these insects are ‘naturally’ occurring in our Canadian habitat. We know for a fact that some insects are introduced via wood packing such as the Brown Spruce longhorn beetle (that has been sighted in Vancouver and Montreal ports) and make a home in Canada due to our ever warming climate.
It could become an economic disaster if we don’t find a way to control the outbreaks and not have companies prepared for these impacts- they should have a plan for controlling and potential loss due to infestation and not just wait for the government to catch up, as pointed out that could take a while.
Oh and lets not get started on climate change… or shall we?
GP
Kamloops B.C
There is an excellant article in Canadian Geographic (Jan/Feb 07) on pine beetle that explains it was part of the natural cycle that,along with wildfire, help strengthen, thin and rejuvenate lodgepole forests as well as animal and plant habitat. Well intentioned but erroneous fire suppression policies have led us to this imbalance in nature.
Its not Hinton that should go, its well intentioned do-gooders that dont understand that nature, not chainsaws, will take care of this. A recent study from Quesnel indicates there were more benefits from not cutting pine beetle killed trees than cutting them.
Why should I pay to cut someone's trees on their property now that they dont like them? Were they willing to share their shade or timber value with me when they did like them?
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