The northern BC forests are going through an eruption of spruce beetles that is destroying one of the most important timber species that remained after the mountain pine beetle disaster, according to Business in Vancouver.
The government and the forest industry are alarmed by a 20-fold increase of the area where the spruce has mushroomed. The recent survey on their area was found in the Omineca region, north of Prince George. In 2013, the spruce has covered a 76 square kilometers of timber, but today they reached 1,560 square kilometers.
Allan Caroll, professor of entomology at the University of British Columbia’s faculty of forestry, explained that the climate change is one of the main reasons for the spruce beetle eruption. The warmer winters complete the spruce beetles’ development over a one-year period, instead of two years.
“We certainly have been saying for quite some time that the next big one on the radar will be the spruce beetle after the mountain pine beetle fades from the spotlight, simply because of the amount of mature spruce that’s available on the landscape,” he said.
As Business in Vancouver reported, the mountain pine beetle infestation destroyed more than 50% of the pine inventory. Thus, to combat the infestation, the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations announced $1 million in new funding last week for an aggressive control program, as to combat them while they’re still at the beginning of the outbreak.
The most affected communities are Prince George, Vanderhoof, Mackenzie and Fort St. James, where forest companies have 15 sawmills, 2 pulp mills and 3 pellet plants.
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