$800,000 TO SOUTHERN INTERIOR FOR PINE BEETLE PLANNING

MERRITT – The Southern Interior Beetle Action Coalition has received $800,000 to help it assess the impact of the mountain pine beetle in the region and plan its response, Premier Gordon Campbell announced today.

“This funding will help communities, regional districts and First Nations across the southern Interior to deal with the social and economic impacts of the beetle epidemic,” said Campbell. “With this funding, the Southern Interior Beetle Action Coalition will work to quantify the impact of the beetle on the region’s timber supply, consult local stakeholders and plan ways to sustain and strengthen the communities most affected.”

The Southern Interior Beetle Action Coalition (SIBAC) will use the $800,000 in provincial and federal funding to:

· Build organizational capacity.

· Conduct a forest-sector trend analysis study for the region.

· Conduct a pine beetle socio-economic impact assessment for the region.

· Host pine beetle discussion and planning forums for residents and stakeholders.

· Develop a 2008 work plan for dealing with regional pine beetle priorities.

In April, the Province announced an additional $50,000 to help SIBAC identify regional beetle concerns and prepare a formal proposal for establishing the coalition. Priorities identified in its proposal include:

· Future decline of the forestry economic base.

· Effects of the infestation on watersheds.

· Impacts on tourism and agriculture.

· Lower-quality forest recreation experiences.

“B.C.’s southern Interior is a large, highly populated and diverse region concerned about the potential socio-economic impacts of the pine beetle,” said SIBAC interim chair David Laird. “Government’s support has enabled the Southern Interior Beetle Action Coalition to hit the ground running as we design our regional response plans.”

SIBAC includes nine regional districts and five First Nation groups located in the upper parts of the Thompson Nicola Regional District and everywhere south of Highway 1 and east of Lillooet and Princeton.

Many parts of the southern Interior are on the leading edge of the infestation. Roughly 960,000 hectares of the SIBAC coverage area were in various stages of red-attack in 2006.

SIBAC is the third beetle action coalition to receive provincial and federal funding. The Province and the federal government have also committed funding to the Cariboo-Chilcotin and Omineca regions for community transitions and pine beetle recovery strategies.

Encouraging immediate and long-term economic sustainability for communities is part of the provincial Mountain Pine Beetle Action Plan. For more information on the Action Plan, or to download a copy, visit www.gov.bc.ca/pinebeetle online.

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Media contact:	Mike Morton Press Secretary Office of the Premier 250 213-8218	Jennifer McLarty Public Affairs Officer Ministry of Forests and Range 250 387-4592

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