Government Should be Ashamed of Its Handling of Beetle Problem: One Man's Opinion

Monday, June 11, 2007 03:45 AM

The Federal Government just doesn’t seem to get it when it comes to the beetle problem in Canada, and I do say Canada and the 1 billion dollars we were promised to offset the economic effects of the destruction of our forests.

The latest bit of money to arrive ($39 million) is being earmarked for Federal and Provincial lands. Much of that money is being spent on trying to stop the spread of the beetles into Alberta. The municipal government and the School districts also get a portion to deal with the removal of trees from their properties.

Now the money that was announced in March, 26 million, the bulk was going to try and stop the spread of the beetles in the Ft. St. John region.

Now let’s start with the $1 billion dollars. Correct I if I’m wrong wasn’t that money to go to try and diversify our economy, to try and get us away from being so forestry dependent?

Oh to be sure, a few million is going to look at expanding mining in the Kamloops –Prince George corridor , but isn’t the main problem of beetles in this region, that portion of the province that so far has had a great deal of lip service but very little money?

Then there is the money being spent to try and stop the beetles from heading into Alberta. Hate to break it to you folks in Ottawa; they are already there, so why in God’s name are we spending a bunch of money try to stop their spread? Has anyone taken the time to read that the beetles can migrate up to 150 kilometers a day in flight at altitudes of up to 24,000 ft.? Has anyone taken the time to read about the fact that the beetles are having no problem adapting from our Mountain Pine, to the Boreal forest of Jack Pine that covers most of the balance of Canada?

Has anyone taken the time to reason how paying for the clean up of municipal , provincial , federal or school district lands is going to change the manner in which we make our living in this part of Canada?

Has anyone taken the time to read the latest reports which show that the wood that is now dead , that wood which was to be used to make our living for the next 100 years , is going to last between 2 and 10 years and then what ?

Is the federal government looking at trying to bring mining onto the scene, oh say in the next ten years, what will those people who have made their living in the woods do in the mean time...? Oh did I forget, cut the dead trees from the municipal and school board grounds.

The beetle fund so far has been the laughing stock of any reasonable thinking person, that of course cannot include the politicians. We are heading for the wall and we continue to make promises spread a little money around on items of absolutely no bloody value to those people who need to change their livelihood.

Has anyone taken the time to understand just how far the beetle will spread? It wasn’t until very recently that a representative from Saskatchewan showed to up to take part in a beetle conference. That is not unlike what happened with Alberta, when people began to look around when they realized the beetles where chewing their forests to death.

For those who so far have been in charge of spending this supposed $1 billion dollars on trying to assist the people of this vast region, your efforts have been a joke, not a funny joke but a cruel joke.

Someone had better get it straight that the Beetle infestation is now a national problem.

If you are prepared to turn the central section of BC into a vast waste land, continue along the same path, if on the other hand it is your intent to try and help the people who have produced billions of dollars for the provincial and federal economies by sending some of that hard earned money back to the region, then fire who ever you have had making the decisions.

The time for this kind of nonsense is long past. We want action.

I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion.

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Posted on Monday, June 11, 2007 03:45 AM in Views by Ben Meisner

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Comments

Posted by: diplomat on June 11 2007 8:12 AM

"Then there is the money being spent to try and stop the beetles from heading into Alberta."

When the pine beetle escaped from the B.C. park in the 1990s it happened - so I am led to believe - because there was no known way to prevent that from happening!

Now, however, money will be allocated to try and stop the beetles from moving east.

What is the new technology that has been developed in the meantime?

Curious, baffled.

By the way, are all the other species of trees growing in B.C. of no use at all in the forest industry?

I look around and all I see is trees and trees everywhere.

Posted by: Andyfreeze on June 11 2007 8:34 AM

Good post Ben and it needs to be said!
Loudly!
Unfortunately many,including governments, are still not listening.
The Pine Beetle infestation is a whole new ball game unlike anything ever seen before,and it will get worse before it gets better.
We are only just begining to feel the impact and what it will do to B.C.down the road remains an unknown for the most part, but we can guess.
That will change very soon.
Whatever the outcome,none of it is going to be pretty!
I am still amazed by the number of people who make their living from the forest industry who simply refuse to see what is coming or what has happened so far to our forests.
Those that scoff at the devastation are in for a shock, and it will actually be the next generation who will be left to find an alternative to what was once the driving force in our economy.
All they need to do is travel off the highway and visit the resorts and lodges surrounded by cpmpletely dead timber.
So much for real estate values.
In the end,it WILL be about money and yet the spending waste continues without restraint.
The more attention that is drawn to the issue the better, when it comes to finding solutuions and we will need all the pressure on governments that we can muster.
And that would be NOW!
Your right,they really don't get it, or maybe they just don't give a damn.
Elections will be won and lost on this mess!
In any event,the Pine Beetle will be a disaster beyond comprehension and we will ALL get to pay for that.
Very sad indeed.

Posted by: Palopu on June 11 2007 10:49 AM

Its one thing to get millions of dollars from the Federal/Provincial Governments to try and diversify the economy in the Central Interior, however it will take more that vague phrases about increasing the mining, or looking for oil in the Nechako Basin.

I have yet to hear anyone come up with an idea that will help to diversify this area to the level that would be required to maintain the status quo, especially in view of the downsizing that is staring us in the face because of the over supply of lumber.

The whole central interior is dependent on wood, farming, mining, cattle, and you can only produce so much before you run out of markets. So the question is **Diversify to what** Lets hear some ideas based on doable projects as opposed to wishful thinking.

The beetles didnt kill of the trees much faster than the lumber companies and their clear cutting practices. Once a tree is gone it takes about 100 years to replace it. The lumber companies solution to clear cutting is massive reforestation, even though the benefits of this will not be available for 100 years. I suggest that if we cannot utilize the pine beetle kill trees in the very near future then we should be looking at knocking them down and replanting the whole area. This would generate jobs for the next 10 to 20 years and of course we would have the benefit of the trees in the future.

In any event we should be doing something besides playing the blame game.

Posted by: owl on June 11 2007 11:08 AM

"By the way, are all the other species of trees growing in B.C. of no use at all in the forest industry?"

BINGO!!! ... One of the strategies identified by the feds in their own annula report of 2005.06 on the state of the forest industry in Canada. Also mentioned with respect to continuing the reliance on forestry is research into the value added sector such as composite materials using wood fibre, etc.

That is where I thought a considerable amount of money needed to be spent. I se very little. Instead there is too much emphasis on the dumbing down of wood use - burn it for energy. Fine, we can do that to, but it is not value added by adding jobs. It is short term, until the AAC is reduced after the beetle wood has been harvested.

What do we do when there is a fall down in the AAC of some 25%? The pellet plants will be shut down. It is a short term investment which probably needs to be made for the short term effect. But let us not look at that as a long term solution since it isn't.

Posted by: Andyfreeze on June 11 2007 12:17 PM

I believe "owl"is correct.
The annual allowable cut is where the biggest impact will be felt and this is what will be so devastating to the forest companies.
That directly converts to dollars of course,which then converst to jobs.
While there is a mediocre market for trees such as poplar,cottonwood,and aspen in some areas,it has never really taken off it seems.
At least not around here to any great extent.
Seems to me it is more poplular back east so why not here I suppose.
(remember chopsticks?...what the hell was THAT?)
OSB board also uses a percentage I understand.
I believe the pulp mill built in Taylor B.C.a number of years back used a hydrogen peroxide refining proccess to pulp these types woods, but again,I am not sure how they are doing with that.
The last I heard it was marginally successful, but that may have changed for the better hopefully.
The point is,there COULD be a market for these types trees but like anything else,it will take research (I would assume there has already been tons of research done on this) )and hard cash to encourage anybody to take a run at it.
And as far as it's pulp value is concerned,it would be low grade that would need to be blended with a stronger fiber pulp like spruce etc.as far as I know.
And pulp hasn't exactly been a hot item over the last few years.
I also agree with "owl" that using the waste pinewood etc.for energy generation is a short term,low employment venture.
Pellets will likely be the same.
And short term at best.
As Palopu is saying...divesify to what is in fact the big question!
Maybe it is a whole bunch of different but related ventures combined that will at least keep the wolf from the door to some degree!

Posted by: Chadermando on June 12 2007 12:03 AM

Ben, I appreciate you bringing this issue up again. It needs to be said, but I don't think the politicians are even listening.

Diversification:

-What about the commercial trailer manufacture that could have located in PG? Isn�t there anything NDI could have done to make it happen?

-What about value added resource equipment manufacturing?

-What about servicing/manufacturing the empty rail cars going to-from Prince Rupert traveling through the region? Painting rail cars or even building them from scratch? Surely these are high paying jobs and we have an advantage being on the new continental supply line?

-What about changing the way we harvest our forests in a more sustainable fashion mitigating the spread of pine beetles in the future and providing a healthy forest for all with more jobs to boot?

-Why is tourism seen as an evil sector to this region when we have some of the best potential for tourism in the world and it worked out well for other regions of the province?

-Why is all our land owned by foreigners, and everyone knows it takes land to create economic opportunities?

-Does the big multinational economic policy create diversification or is this a primary source of our dwindling diversification and bleak economic outlook for the citizens of this region for the benefit of foreign shareholders of the corporate world?

-Why does every other growing region of Canada have access to risk capital for entrepreneurs and yet for this region it is almost non-existent?

-Does our political system contribute to our problems via a lack of political capital through a flawed system that sees regions lacking political power as areas to be milked for the majority? Do we need to have a greater say in how our resource dollars are re-allocated to pursue growth in this region? Does the lack of a military base or other bureaucracy disproportionately affect this region?

-Would consideration of infrastructure be a major factor that could promote and facilitate diversification?

It seems to me I could go on all night, but the facts are we have more questions than answers, and it all boils down to a major lack of leadership by our political elite who are more concerned about pay raises than a fiduciary duty to the people they claim to represent. A 50% effort in half of these areas would make the pine beetle issue a non issue, but it will not happen before the next election we can be sure of at least that.

Time Will Tell

Posted by: Andyfreeze on June 12 2007 1:34 PM

I would certianly have to agree with Chadermando on the Tourism issue.
For some reason,tourism has never been take very seriously in this neck of the woods.
I really don't understand why,with all the potential we have!
Our river systems are second to none and our lakes are some of the best in the country.
Just look a the distance that can be traveled just by a chain of a number of lakes and river systems alone.
Another benefit is the sheer size of some of the lakes.
That alone allows for serious travel with boats and various other watercraft of a decent size which also makes it very safe.
Also,look at a lake like Stuart or Takla and Trembleur.
All connected by rivers.
There is plenty of private land and yet many areas are virtually empty and undeveloped.
Of course that does bring us to the native issue and land claims etc.,but there is still plenty of titled land unused.
Another issue is public access which we have less of all the time.
Thats wrong.
Fort St.James is a prime example.
Stuart is a fantastic lake for boating, and yet they don't even have a decent marina or fuel facilities on the lake.
They don't even care!
Anywhere else and a lake like Stuart would be a going concern.
People have been asking for those facilities for years but it never happens.
How dumb is that?