Beetles Caught on Film

Friday, August 11, 2006 04:01 AM

A shadowy ribbon streams towards trees along the Old Cariboo highway near the Prince George Airport, photo courtesy Alex Goldie

"It was such a dark cloud, you couldn't help but see it" Those are the words of Alex Goldie who was driving on the Old Cariboo Highway near the old experimental farm when he spotted a cloud of mountain pine beetles heading for a stand of trees.

"Lucky I had my camera in my vehicle" says Goldie, who pulled over and took the shots as the beetles honed in on one of just a few pine trees in that stand.

As you look at these photos, keep in mind a mountain pine beetle is about the size of a grain of rice. Now magine how many are in this swarm.

Goldie says he couldn't hear anything "Those beetles must be awfully hungry" says Goldie. "There aren't enough trees in that grove to feed them all".

The beetles have been moving to the north and east of Prince George, and this is expected to be the largest flight we will have experienced. While Prince George and region deal with the aftermath of the beetle, there are some regions who are just now bracing for the onslaught.

Fort St. John's CityCouncil will talk about a mountain pine beetle action plan at that City's Council meeting on Monday. It has just been confirmed there has been a major infestation of Mountain Pine beetle in that city as well as Dawson Creek,
Chetwynd, Tumbler Ridge, Hudson’s Hope and Grande Prairie.

The Mountain Pine Beetle had originally been expected to arrive in the Peace region around 2014.

Monday, Fort St John City Council will deliberate on an action plan for dealing with the infested trees on both public
and private lands. The plan is expected to include logging and clean-up of the debris after logging.

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