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PRINCE GEORGE – The City of Prince George, the provincial government and Canfor today announced a plan to salvage beetle-attacked trees in the city to reduce the risk of forest fire and enhance the safety of residents.
“A salvage strategy for Prince George is one of the new measures we are introducing to combat the mountain pine beetle, as announced in this year’s speech from the throne,” said Prince George-Mount Robson MLA Shirley Bond. “Working closely with the municipality and industry we will develop a plan to help homeowners deal with beetle-infested trees and lessen the forest fire risk that beetle-killed timber poses within city limits.”
The Ministry of Forests protection program will contribute $25,000 and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities will grant $15,000 to the city for projects that will reduce the risk of wildfire.
“As well as petitioning Ottawa for federal assistance next month, I’m today appointing a three-member task force to devise a strategy for logging tenure, timber pricing and other issues associated with salvaging beetle-damaged trees from Crown lands within city limits,” said Forests Minister Michael de Jong.
The task force: Jim Snetsinger, Ministry of Forests, Mark Fercho, City of Prince George, and Peter Baird of Canfor will report back to the Forests Minister by Dec. 1, 2004. As well, the Ministry of Forests has reduced the processing time for private residential timber marks within the City of Prince George to five working days, allowing homeowners to take care of infested and dead trees more quickly.
University of Northern British Columbia students will be hired for a community beetle information and tree-inventory program administered by the city. Canfor and the ministry will jointly contribute a total of $20,000 for the one-month inventory program, and the city will provide materials for the information campaign.
“We’re pleased to be providing funding for undertaking an inventory of beetle-damaged trees and providing the professional resources to the Prince George Task Force which will define an action plan to battle the beetle in the city,” said Ken Higginbotham, vice-president of forestry, environment and external relations, Canfor. “Our participation in this initiative is driven by our desire to help out a Canfor community in need. Through the work of the task force, we may identify other ways in which Canfor can play a role in solving this problem.”
“This salvage strategy will provide the City of Prince George with much-needed help in coping with the effects of the mountain pine beetle infestation that has spread into many parts of the municipality,” said Mayor Colin Kinsley. “It will help facilitate the process required for the average citizen to have beetle-killed pine trees removed from their properties.”
In April, the government updated its mountain pine beetle action plan to deal with the largest mountain pine beetle outbreak in British Columbia’s history. The strategy for Prince George will complement that provincial action plan which calls for: · Removal and logging of beetle-killed trees. · Expediting timber supply reviews. · Implementing associated recommendations from the Filmon fire review. · Supporting and encouraging economic diversification in affected communities. · Creating new markets and demand for beetle-killed wood.
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