Ft. St. John Waits for Experts

By 250 News

The arrival of the Mountain Pine Beetle in  Peace Country has caught that region a little off guard.  Experts hadn't thought the beetle would show in that region for  at least a couple  more  years, but,  they  have attacked  dozens of trees in the City of Fort St. John, and have surfaced in Grande Prairie.

Ft. St. John Mayor Jim Eglinski says his Council had hoped to get a bit more information on the beetle at its last meeting, but Ministry of Forest  staff aren't able to attend a Council meeting till  September 11th. 

"Rumours are rampant" says Eglinski "There are people saying you can spray this or that on the trees and stop the spread, but the best we can  do right now is let people know that there is nothing we know of that can stop the beetles.  The best we can do is talk with other communities like Prince George, and get advice from the experts at the Ministry of Forests on how best to clean up  after the beetle has moved on."   

Eglinski says he, along with the members of Council,  will wait until they have a chance to hear from the experts before making any decisions about how best to help property owners who now have beetle attacked trees on their land.

The mountain pine beetle has now infected more than 7 million hectares of forest throughout B.C.  That is an area, larger than the size of  New Brunswick.

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