The Flight Of the Beetle Underway

By 250 News

The flight of the mountain pine beetle has started, and the wave is moving to the north and east of Prince George.

Mark Fercho is the Environmental Manager with the City of Prince George, he says this flight will likely be the worst we have experienced so far,  and will likely mean the bulk of the beetles will move out of the City.  "I had an opportunity to get an aerial view of the areas north and east of the City, and the trees are turning red about an hours drive north and east of Prince" says Fercho.

Fercho says the Ministry of Forests  traps started picking up beetles on the 22nd of June, and now the traps are filling up as fast as they can be emptied.

It is unlikely any lodgepole pine in the City will have survived the attack, as Fercho says the beetles are so starved for trees they are attacking  trees as young as ten years old.  While the beetles don’t reproduce on trees that young,  they can reproduce on trees that are just 17 years old. 

The damage is visible in this aerial photo of a young plantationthat has been destroyed by the beetle.

"For every tree attacked" says Fercho "they produce enough new beetles to attack another 3 to 8 trees".  That is why we are seeing more red trees than ever  this year.

Since 2004, the harvesting methods have moved away from trying to protect the City of Prince George from the beetle, to  protecting the City from a major forest  fire that could  rage through the standing deadwood the beetles have left behind.

A variety of methods have been used to remove pine beetle  infested trees from parks, greenbelt and city properties in an effort to reduce the fire risk   (all photos courtesy City of Prince George Environmental Department)

"School District 57  really should be given a lot of credit" says Mark Fercho,  he says the School District was one of the first to recognize the dangers of the standing deadwood on school property.  "They opted to have the trees removed from their school  and playgrounds which were often in the middle of residential  areas.  They  took a lot of negative publicity because of the stumps that were left behind, but you know,  the School Board really has prevented a much bigger tragedy, who knows what might have happened had there been kids with matches in one of those playgrounds."   

The latest stats show there hasn’t been as many trees logged in the City over the most recent hauling season, but Fercho says that is because they concentrated effforts on the regions which posed the greatest fire threat.

The City’s Envionmental Manager  says  his department takes a lot of heat beacuse sometimes  green trees have to be harvested.  "We  always want to ensure we are taking the infected pine first, but, in the interests of reducing the risk of fire,  some other species will  sometimes have to be taken as well, and that’s the hardest for people to take beause the city has lost so many trees."  Fercho has plenty of praise for  so many of the people who have  worked to  deal with the  problems created by the attack of the beetle  "The Ministry of Forests and it’s Fire and Protection  people have  been  giving us incredible support, the School Board, licencees, woodlot owners, forestry companies and land owners have all  done a great job in helping us to build natural fire breaks around the City." says Fercho who adds there is still so much more to do.

"We’re doing everything we can to protect this city from the risk of forest fire,  we still have a lot to do, but we are getting there" he says.

Meantime, the beetles are flying. 

They will  be on the move from now until later  September, possibly  into October.  Last year, there were so many beetles,  they actually  showed up on radar.  Fercho says he has never "seen" a wave of beetles, but he has heard them  "I have stood in a stand of  trees and heard the SSSHHHHHHHHHSSHSHHSHSHH,  almost like the sound of heavy rain.  I knew  it was the sound of the beetles attacking those trees.  I’m not sure if it was the sound of them burrowing into the bark, or of the sawdust falling,  but it made me feel very sad."

Fercho encourages  those who want more information to visit the City Of  Prince George's Enviromental "Urban Forestry" site on the City's web site.

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