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The pine beetle's deadly march

STORY BY WENDY STUECK and VIDEO BY JOHN LEHMANN

Globe and Mail Update

Latest comment posted at 4:57 AM EDT 01/09/07

Infestation is laying to waste vast stretches of trees, threatening the livelihood of workers and some of the province's biggest companies ...Read the full article

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  1. L M from Canada writes: Wait 5-7 years before buying BC housing.
  2. CanadianInvestors.com Burridge from Nanaimo, Canada writes: I want to thank the Globe and Mail for finally bringing this issue to the forefront. It is a national tragedy that so called environmental groups and politicians have not done more to raise the awareness and make this a priority.

    The 9:00 minute video doesn't capture the devastation that I have seen first hand. I don't think words or pictures can do it justice.

    Adrian Burridge
    President
    CanadianInvestors.com Inc.
  3. Little Stevie Blunder from Canada writes: This started 35 years ago in the West Chilcotin and when there was just an acre of it near Kleena Kleene, the head ranger at Tatla Lake was denied permission to destroy it by the then Provincial Government - it's taken over 30 years of progressive destruction and many different governments and look where we are now. We were always told a few cold winters would kill them off. Well, we had plenty of them at -30 and it didn't touch them. The passing of the buck for over a quarter of a century is beyond shameful.
  4. Phil S from Toronto, Canada writes: Since I was a young child, I have volunteered my time on and off to environmentalist causes and organizations and they have been raising the red flag on many issues but the government, media, business community and the population at large absolutely don't care until it affects them personally. Environmentalists are always painted as a 'special interest group', as if only they would be the only beneficiaries of clean air, water and soil.

    Too many people have their head in the sand because it's just too easy to discredit the science when you can't physically see the impact. You can only see the impact when it's too late. People getting sick from e coli, asthmatics collapsing in the streets and bug infestations are only the evidence of environmental impact that you can witness.
  5. Jack Jones from Canada writes: I live in BC in a resource-based community and have lived in resource based communities all my life.

    The mountain pine beetle epidemic is devastating literally and economically. But only in our lifetime.

    What we need is a really good fire. Then in about 100 years the trees will be back. Unfortunately this does nothing for the forest companies. Oh well!

    What do you folks think about GW and CC now??

    When I look at the forest, they have the same colour as deciduous trees in autumn. Makes me think that the world is in fall, as in her final stages. She is dying. Her trees are like a smoker's lungs.

    Plague, pestilence and famine.

    Then the four horsemen.

    Then a seal or two.

    But first, hopefully, a really good fire.
  6. Phil S from Toronto, Canada writes: I think we just found the guy who put the torch to pretty much all of Greece (Jack Jones).
  7. garlick toast from mill village, Canada writes: meanwhile in the east,where the bug is sure to come,we spray vision to kill hardwoods and promote monoculture.how stupid are we?we'll find out.
  8. Prairie Boy from Canada writes: OZ..take a pill. Good article. From what I have read earlier a good portion of the little buggers came in from Washington State during their fire problems. No matter they are here and it sounds like the industry and residents are coping the way humans do.

    Is our reluctance to use pesticides part of the problem? In Sk. one farmer bought 35,000 rounds of .22 because up until very recently the best poison would only kill 30% of the gophers. His land was ruined, not a blade of grass and you could not put equipment let alone animals on it. He does not pay stumpage, he pays taxes (sometimes).
  9. Lyn Alg from Canada writes: I find it rather ironic that Lee Todd, a BC logging contractor, states that due to the pine beetle, '..our beautiful green forests are gone..'. Such insincere, bombastic, dolorous, expressions of sadness and regret by a professional forester is the height of deceit. Perhaps, Mr. Todd believes that he and the multinational lumber companies operating in BC can exculpate themselves from their 'clear cutting' practices. Or could it be that I am wrong? Maybe 'clear cutting' does not destroy, '..our beautiful green forests..' !!
  10. Prairie Boy from Canada writes: Lyn who would repect a forest more than a man that makes his living from it?
  11. liz bredberg from vancouver, Canada writes: For the past years I've been travelling this province as part of my work, watching the spread of this catastrophe. No one has seemed to respond to its onset.

    Even this article, which is the best treatment I've seen so far, seem to me to overlook the wider implications. Sure, the younger trees will grow, but meanwhile, in addition to the resource based stuff, I don't know how interested tourists are going to be in staying in a place that has nothing but black trees and logged off land. It's hideous. I would compare it to the effect a grave illnesss has on a person's appearance--strangers won't be attracted. And yes, the effect on the climate will be considerable and I'm not the person to work out the effects that may have. The question was raised (and dismissed by the government) at one point about the effect of run-off--the trees don't hold snow the way the do with a growth of needles. Will the underlying earth erode? If that happens, what happens to fisheries.

    Until you've seen the extent of this, it's quite unimaginable, and the miserable little grey urban men who run BC will still whitter on about Olympics and the 'Best Place on Earth.'

    I'm just heartsick.
  12. George Erler from Lethbridge, AB., Canada writes: I have a small property (four acres) in the Creston Valley with a few pine trees on it. Todate, I haven't lost a single Pine tree to the pine beetle and I don't see dead pines in the immediate area. However, I've lost no less than 50 Grand Fir trees to sometime kind of a bug during the last five years. These are 20 to 25 metre trees. There are dead Grands all over the valley and very little is said about it or is there any information available from what I can see. A logging contractor friend of mine say it's a very serious problem and I may as well remove the remaining Grand Firs as they will become victims of the bug.
    I hate to lose these trees. Maybe some expert who reads my comments can suggest a chemical to paint on the trunks.
  13. Rick Clarke from Edmonton, Canada writes: Great article. The media have ignored this so much that when one hears about it, it almost sounds like it's a rumour .
    This isn't just going to hurt lumber companies, it's going to have a VERY negative on tourism.
    I've travelled to BC many times, over many years, and to see the effect of the beetles is heartbreaking.

    Prairie boy; the epicenter of the beetle was the Prince George area. It did not come from Washington.
    Washington is, however being infected by beetles coming from BC, as is western Alberta.

    Lyn Alg; A clear cut is actually more attractive, than a mountain valley covered with dead and dying trees.

    Just wait til a fire starts in that stuff.
  14. Phil S from Toronto, Canada writes: A-HA! It sounds like Prairie Boy's farmer friend is the culprit! He's the one who shot dead all of the woodpeckers who feed on these pine beetles!
  15. Ka Put from Lotusland, Canada writes: Little Stevie Blunder makes an excellent point. This infestation could have been stopped 30 years ago. That was the time DDT was banned. Coincidence?
    Too much blame has been laid on global warming.
    As a child, I lived near a beautiful pine forest outside Tripoli, Libya, and do not remember any infestation even with the hot climate.
  16. Andrew Malcolmson from Canada writes: One of the posters above says a 'good' fire is needed, but historically cold winters killed the beetles.

    How many more examples of the effects of climate change do we need before we treat it as a crisis? Will we continue to listen to those who say we can't reduce emissions because that might hurt the economy, when economic damage like this is already happening?
  17. Phil S from Toronto, Canada writes: Well, in the future all that's going to be left are humans and bugs. Then after that, maybe just bugs. I hope you all find a good recipe for cockroach stew.
  18. Prairie Boy from Canada writes: Not a lot of woodpeckers on grass or grain. Gophers may be cute , people in TO were paying about 80 bucks for one but if you watched your mortgage get eaten you would likely change your mind.

    Thank you Rich, what I heard could be wrong. I saw the devestation in Glacier Park in Montana about 12 years ago. There were mile after mile of dead timber. I asked the ranger why they did not burn it off and his reply was they wait for lightning to strike. A few years later Yellowstone burned so hot they worried things would not return.
  19. JM Work from Canada writes: Where are Stephen Harper and the NeoCons helping this disaster in Western Canada?
  20. David Y from edmonton, Canada writes: Has the pine beetle been around for hundreds of years? Do similar trees thrive in warmer climates for hundreds of years?

    Perhaps it is a case of a preditor needing to catch up with the beetle prey.

    Where I live, mosquitoes can get really bad in spring, until the dragon fly population catches up. Now I rarely see one.
  21. Kyle McIver from Canada writes: I'll try and drop some background info about the beetle:
    br
    The pine beetle is a perfectly normal, and actually a critical part of the forest cycle. The beetle (normally) preys upon old trees that aren't in good health, clearing them from the canopy so younger healthier trees can grow. The beetle worked in tandem with fire to refersh forests, and the effect of one helped keep the other in check. Bark beetles are a normal part of just about every pine tree species life. It's not just however the pine beetle that is causing problems now as other species are taking adavantage of better conditions for growth and expansion of range. Warmer winters (you need -30C for about 2-3 weeks to kill the beetle, a day or two doesn't do anything) and protection from logging mean more old unhealthy pines and so the pine beetle is unchecked by temperature or fire and they are basically kids in a candy parlour with more food than they can imagine.
    br
    The balance has been upset by humans, and the beetle is rampaging right now, in the future the interior will rebalnce itself and be just fine. If it gets out into the boreal though, then basically no one knows what will happen. If its bad though then it will be something unparralled in human history.
  22. b mac from Canada writes: Hopefully the weather this winter will take care of those pesky beetles. If not, other species will rise from below to take their place. British Columbia has a marvelous eco system.
  23. Ian St. John from Canada writes: 'b mac from Canada writes: Hopefully the weather this winter will take care of those pesky beetles. ' Well, there is a problem, you see. Belching CO2/Methane have led to a significant rise is the lowest temperatures ( those that kill bugs ) so that there is little chance of them being killed off. They call it global warming. Some people will tell you that it's no problem and will result in major increases in forest output... I think you know what I think of those predictions.. 'If not, other species will rise from below to take their place. British Columbia has a marvelous eco system. ' Maybe we should be encouraging/breeding up woodpeckers ( the main predator of pine beetles )? Insect parasites, predators and fungal diseases attack bark beetle larvae but don't do it fast enough to control outbreaks. Hoping for a cold winter isn't very reliable.. Fire kills most beetles but unless it is really hot, the remaining population then booms as it finds lots of weakened trees to infest. Trees can protect themselves against a few beetles, but become infested if there is a major outbreak to supply more attacks than they can defend against. Thus an outbreak in one area leads to outbreaks elsewhere. The control plan must be integrated over the provinces... and focussed on preventing the FIRST outbreak.
  24. Marty York from Calgary, Canada writes: Part of the issue is the BC government at the time (NDP) admits it didn't react fast enough or strong enough to deal with it. The other issue is economics. The BC government now would rather harvest the trees and make a profit, rather than starting a forest fire to raze the forests and start over, therefore preventing the spread. Why don't they allow it to burn? Because then they could not make a record harvest like they are doing now. I used to pray against forest fires, now I hope the ones they start in Alberta this fall take care of the problem.
  25. Marty York from Calgary, Canada writes: JM, your comments are based on ignorance. I always find it amusing yet frustrating, when people ask what the harper government is doing about it. the provincial NDP had years to do something about it and did NOTHING. 1 year as a minority government is supposed to take care of 13 years of liberal inefficency on a federal level?
  26. Melissa Smits from St Catharines, Canada writes: I haven't even heard of this issue before today, and if it's been a recurring thing, it just shows how the issues that affect our industries (escpecially environmental) always take a backseat to things like that awful war.

    I wonder if they've tried mating disruption--the same thing they've used for Grape Berry Moths here in Ontario... If they're affected by pheromones then using mating disruption is a less destructive way to control their population than burning or clear-cutting the forests.
  27. Kim Morton from Qualicum Beach, Canada writes: Ores Zaorsky: You have been reading far too much NPD and Ecoterrorist propaganda. If the NDP had made even the slightest effort to stop this infestation when it started instead of trying to destroy the forest industry we wouldn't be in this position now. The worst problem by far is the downstream economic conciquences of this massive salvage operation. There will be a falldown in the AAC inthe afected areas for many years to come and currently the push to harvest al this marginal wood has pushed down the prices for coastal timber where logging costs are much higher. The government also recieves much less revenue from salvage wood than prime timber so there is less money to squander on our excessive social programs as well.
  28. Voltaire's Distant Cousin from Toronto, Canada writes: This posting is to any of you who have been reading the National Post propaganda about climate change. The main climate denier argument is that climate change is caused by variations in solar activity, and not by human activities. If you think that this argument has any validity, please read the following scientific paper: http://www.journals.royalsoc.ac.uk/content/h844264320314105/fulltext.pdf

    This article is scientifically rock solid. It is published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society A, and is authored by Mike Lockwood of Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire.

    Its central thesis is that the global warming that has occurred since 1985 has NOT been caused by solar variation. To support this thesis, Lockwood provides very reliable data that show that since 1985, solar activity has been trending in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION needed to account for the recent warming. This includes sunspot cycles, cosmic ray flux, and solar intensity. All of the data Lockwood cites is easily available, and has been measured at numerous university physics laboratories. Measuring sunspots, cosmic rays, and solar intensity is relatively easy, so there should be no controversy about the data.

    So to all of you who seldom look beyond 5 year profit projections, I urge you to look at the big picture. Consider what happens when changes in weather patterns cause widespread reductions in crop yields. The demand for food is quite inelastic, so think about what happens to prices when yields drop. Suddenly, food costs make up a huge portion of GDP, which leaves less money for other luxuries. Think about what that will do to your profit margins.
  29. David Simon from Canada writes: Why isn't there simply research being done on a pesticide that will zap or neuter this bug or discover a predator for this bug?
  30. Little Stevie Blunder from Canada writes: Having lived in the area where and when it started, let me clarify a few things. Firstly, yes, it was the new NDP government, under Dave Barrett, who were in power at the time, a short time - they refused the head forest ranger at Tatla Lake the ability to burn the (still small and local) infestation. Then the Social Credit government of Bill Bennett was in for many years, followed by the Social Credit government of Bill van der Zalm, then followed by the more recent NDP government of Glen Clark. They all did nothing with regards to this problem. Now we have the Liberal (certainly in name only as it is full of Conservative, Reform, Alliance, and Social Credit people) government in place and their focus appears to be just what Vancouver will present like for the 2010 Olympics. Anything north of the town of Hope is and always has been ignored and considered 'beyond hope' by ALL the provincial governments. The Provincial governments of BC are really more like the Provincial Governments of the lower mainland and Vancouver Island, which is where the bulk of the voters live and therefore where political pandering takes place. However, because of the absolute (criminal) negligence of the last 34-35 years (it was 1972 or 1973 it started) of ALL political stripes, this now threatens the entire province as well as Alberta's forests. As far as 'continued' -30 degree weather for 3 or more weeks, this is hardly the case. Researching as far back to the 'dirty 30's', this was not a normal scenario in the West Chilcotin. At most a week to 10 days of this bitter cold, followed by a respite and return to more seasonal normals of the day, was what was experienced. In the winter of 1971-1972, we had temperatures down to -40 Fahrenheit and it went on for quite a while. Tractors broke, mills were closed - it was beyond cold. What should have been done is now irrelevant. The destruction is done and it is massive. It was a failing of ALL politicians of all stripes.
  31. Voltaire's Distant Cousin from Toronto, Canada writes: David Simon writes: ' Why isn't there simply research being done on a pesticide that will zap or neuter this bug or discover a predator for this bug?'

    There probably is, but there needs to be some caution here. Ever heard of the Cane Toad, in Australia. This huge toad species was brought to Australia from Hawaii to prey on a pest that was damaging sugar cane crops? The Cane Toad thrived in Australia. It's population grew and grew, for the simple reason that it had no natural predators. The crocodiles would seem like the most likely predator, except for the fact that the toad is poisonous to them (and to almost everything else). Now the Cane Toad is causing huge problems in Australia, far larger than the pest that the toads were meant to prey on.

    Aside from that, I have vague recollections that there was some spraying done to stop the Pine Beetle early on, but that it wasn't enough. Now it is so widespread, that any spraying regime would be unlikely to be effective, as you wouldn't be able to kill all of the beetles. And the surviving beetles could end up evolving resistances to our measures. Also, the areas effected are HUGE. In some areas, when you fly over them, it seems that nearly every tree is brown.

    Pheromone traps could have some effect, but can you imagine the effort and expense of placing them widely enough to have any effect? And again, you would never catch them all, so they would return as soon as we stopped. Control measures really are only likely to work if the outbreak is contained. It is not contained, so our efforts would probably be in vain.
  32. bob london from Canada writes: It is too late to deal with the beetle. 12 years ago my wife was working in the Tweedsmuir area and the local forestry officials did not want anything to do with the bug. Suspicions and personal opinion at the time was that the mills wanted the 25 cent stumpage instead of full price (if they ever pay that). The mills wanted the volume and did not care about the forest or that the wood would be poor quality in a few years. It was also an excuse to cut down spruce stands of which the largest BC mill was fined. The new bug boss had the mills hands up his skirt and was talking like a puppet. Those foresters in industry and government who wanted to deal with the issue either left town or have been religated to menial duties patiently waiting to retire. Surprise, 10 years later it is in Alberta. The people in Vancouver never helped as they are armchair environmentalists looking at Grouse Mountain thinking that the entire province is old growth Douglas Fir and Cedar. David Suzuki, Colleen Mcquary and Al Kean beaking off about clear cuts kept the stands to be the same age. It could have been harvested and replanted to mimic a forest fire but the Pseudo Environmental Religous leader had his followers screaming to have everyone scared to act. So the bug went loose. It is sad my home town is now a complete wasteland with may be 5 years of ok times. The lack of thought by people in BC is not surprising but now they now have a better crop with mercury halide lights. Thank goodness we can now read about it in the paper from a long ways away without having to see our house value plummet again in 5 years. Thankyou for the article, 10 years to late.
  33. Fifty cal from United States writes: Maybe you could spray a little DDT around? After all, the 'DDT is killing the planet' hoax was exposed years ago.
  34. Voltaire's Distant Cousin from Toronto, Canada writes: If the Mountain Pine Beetle was already widespread before the warming occurred, then I doubt there was anything we could really do to stop it, once the cold winters started to disappear.

    From what I understand, the beetle has existed for a long time in the pine forest, but was controlled by cold winter temperatures. It is extremely difficult or impossible to eliminate an insect species completely, so I doubt there is anything anyone could really have done to stop this, short of preventing the warming.
  35. Wilma De Bruyn from Toronto, Canada writes: It's too bad all the pine beetle infantry didn't march on the Legislature in
    Victoria and eat all the pine and wooden furniture in the Parliament buildings. Perhaps then the Politicians would take notice rather than counting the profit margin their going to making on property in Squamish
    and Whistler come 2010 Winter Olympics. Maybe they could always find
    Gary Collins desk so he could move on to another position.
    Then again, the Politicians need not worry, they have their big fat
    salaries and pensions don't they???
  36. Fred Field from Nanaimo, Canada writes: If the future says there is going to be such a shortage of logs, why are we sending barge load after barge load of our best timber from Vancouver Island down to Washington for their mills down there while ours are shutting down up here. I understand it could be up to 70% of our timber on the Island can be exported so why not a Tariff on the logs going out??? They beat us up on the lumber agreement,and are doing the same on our raw log exports. I remember Preston Manning's appeal for people in the Reform Party to help make a change but it seems like it is just the same old Conservative politics dictating policy.
  37. Upper Canadian born and raised in Western Canada from St Albert, Canada writes: It's very difficult to conceptualize the sheer loss of Canada's forests - I think that transition will come for my son's generation as the correlation between forest and Canada is ingrained in my generation very deeply.

    I have some old poetry books from the late 1800's - and it's funny, because poem after poem after poem is devoted to nature and the vast abundance we had. It's sad to see it all disappear - and ironic given the vast amount of people who immigrated to Canada because of this vast abundance. We've not been very thoughtful stewards in the last 50 years.

    To those who are fighting such an overwhelming battle, you have my deepest gratitude, and my sincerest condolences.
  38. E. Biggs from Canada writes: Folks don't pay any attention to Orest. He seems to pop up periodically when off his meds usually with nothing to add to any conversation but slurs.

    Living in the lower mainland (Surrey), I noticed today that some of my pine trees are now turning red so it is probably only a matter of time before they come down. I planted them 30 years ago and have babied them but nothing can stop this beetle regardless of who was at fault.

    As for bugs, we are getting mosquitos here for the first time since 1973, getting bit regularly now.
  39. Mr X from Canada writes: I have a feeling that there might be a great fire unlike anything we have ever seen before.
  40. Alexander Dryden from Ottawa, Canada writes: Perhaps the authors and the GnM might be advised to note that (apart from BC's ludicrous ndp-ers (more interested in investing in the Caribbean) the federal gliberal misgovernments of le cretin and the manchurian candidate spent scores of million$ on 'studies' of the problem (to whom?) but not a nickel on solutions.
  41. Little Stevie Blunder from Canada writes: Unfortunately, the problem was exacerbated (and still is, I believe) by the cutting down of the trees and hauling them off to various mills throughout the province. This enabled a more rapid spread of the infestation thanks to the convenience of being transported by logging trucks through areas which had not yet been infested.
  42. Upper Canadian born and raised in Western Canada from St Albert, Canada writes: Both great points Mr. X and Little Stevie Blunder.

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