Updated Pine Beetle Plan Released

By 250 News

The Ministry of Forests and Range has released the  latest version of the Pine Beetle Action Plan.  

The report starts off noting that the mountain pine beetle has now infected  more than  8 million hectares of  forest, and has hit more than 400 million cubic metres of merchantable timber.  That is a 45 % increase over the level recorded a year ago.

At this rate, the report says, well over 1/2 of the merchantable mature pine in the central and souther interior will be dead  by 2007, and 80% will be dead by 2013.

The update action plan  presents 59 key actions  for the coming year, and a further  13 that will be taken over several years.

The actions include increased focus on safety, growing the value-added sector,and developing non-timber forest product enterprises with First Nations. 

(click on the report cover photo to view the complete report)

This is the second update since the plan was first developed in 2001.

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