August 23, 2005
Kamloops Daily News



B.C. won't be the same after a lot of trees are gone.  Trees
are not only a major source of money; they help define our
province.  Trees are part our natural and emotional
attachment to the land.

Forested land now covers about 75 per cent of the Thompson
region.  That is about to change dramatically.  What fire
and logging haven't removed, the pine beetle will.  Pine
trees make up most of the regional forests.

It's not a pretty prospect.  The future of logging revenue
and the communities it supports is endangered.  The march of
the beetle is scary.

Joan Westfall, a Kamloops forestry consultant and a former
employee of the Forest Service, has been studying the
damage.  Her findings are included in a recent report by the
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Westfall has been studying the extent of damage the only way
she can - - by air.  Before the number of foresters were cut
by various provincial governments, the picture on the ground
would have been clearer.

From the air, the rapid spread of beetle devastation is
clear.  Photographs of the infestation show the exponential
growth of dead and dying trees.  Each year, from 2001 to
2004, the damage spreads like a rusty stain across the
province.  And the visual damage is only a small indicator
of what's to come.

Westfall has found that for every tree that has obvious
damage, or "red-attacked," there are at least five otherwise
healthy-looking trees that are infested, or
"green-attacked."   She has heard anecdotal reports from the
ground of up to 70 green-attacked trees for every tree
visually affected.  Those numbers translate into pine-tree
kills of 20 to 98 per cent of pine trees.

The first areas to be hit were the forest districts
northwest of Kamloops.  They range from 100 Mile House in
the Cariboo Forest Region, through to Prince George, and
west to Smithers in the Prince Rupert Forest Region.  That
epidemic threatens most of the one billion cubic metres of
pine there.

It used to be that only older trees were at risk, those over
80 years.  Now the beetle infestation is infecting younger,
healthier, trees.  And it threatens to jump to species other
than the lodgepole pine. 

Global warming is a factor.  The beetle now survives the
relatively mild winters.  And with the rapid warming and
drying of the north, the jack pine of B.C.'s northern boreal
forests at risk.  From there, it's an simple jump to all
Canada's boreal forests.

There are no easy solutions to the beetle infestation but we
have to try.  The provincial government has managed to
suppress one threat - - fires - - now they must move quickly
to fight the massive beetle infestation.

The response so far has been to save the trees by cutting
them down.  The idea is to control the beetle infestation by
removing the affected trees and salvage them for marketable
timber. 

It's probably too late for that.  The infestation is
spreading like a silent wildfire. 

We need to get back to basics; the three Rs - - research,
restoration and reforestation.  Research could develop a
species of softwood that has commercial value but is not
susceptible to the beetle.

The number of publicly funded foresters on the ground must
be increased to get an accurate assessment of the scope of
the problem.  And if we are to have a forestry industry for
future generations, a massive reforestation effort must be
started.

But tree planting can't begin without research.  There is no
sense planting trees that are destined to become beetle
food.   We need to plant trees that have commercial value
but are not susceptible to beetles.

The lost of trees will not only affect the way we feel about
the land, it will change the way that governments market the
province.

The natural beauty of our province has been exploited in
tourist marketing campaigns.  In the 1990s, the province
promoted Super, Natural British Columbia and more recently
The Best Place on Earth.

All of those campaigns featured the natural beauty of B.C.
framed by trees.

It's hard to exaggerate the impact of the loss of trees.
Trees are the lungs of the planet.  The forestry industry
generates billions of dollars to families, communities,
corporations, and governments.

Given the visual, psychological, environmental, political,
and economic value of trees - - the loss of trees will be
disastrous.

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