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VICTORIA – The Emergency Bark Beetle Management Area has been
updated to enable government to aggressively address B.C.’s mountain pine
beetle epidemic in expanded outbreak areas.
The Emergency Bark Beetle Management Area has now
been expanded to include:
·
The
Skeena-Stikine, Headwaters, Arrow-Boundary, Kootenay Lake and Cascades forest
districts.
·
The
southern portion of the Chilcotin Forest District.
·
The
northern extents of the Mackenzie and Fort St. James forest districts.
·
The
upper half of the Peace Forest District.
Forest professionals have determined that some
beetle populations on the outer edge of the infestation are low enough that
emergency harvesting measures may help keep those beetle populations static in
certain locations.
By widening the scope of the
Emergency Bark Beetle Management Area, forest districts now on the periphery of
the epidemic can streamline the planning process for emergency harvesting
situations, resulting in quicker removal of timber containing beetle brood.
The Emergency Bark Beetle Management Area is
determined on an annual basis using aerial overview information. Ministry
surveys indicated the mountain pine beetle affected about seven million hectares
of the province in 2004. Of this total, about two million hectares showed trace
amounts of attack, meaning that less than one per cent of the trees in a mapped
area have been recently killed. The other five million hectares represented
light-to-severe levels of attack (anything greater than one per cent). This
light-to-severe attack figure is up from just over four million hectares in
2003.
Under the Emergency Bark Beetle Management Area, the
provincial bark beetle co-ordinator monitors ongoing beetle conditions and has
the ability to designate emergency management units.
Designated emergency management units are the means
for the Ministry of Forests to meet its stewardship mandate to aggressively
deal with the beetle epidemic, and also contribute to the provincial Mountain
Pine Beetle Action Plan objective of limiting further damage to B.C.’s forests
and environment.
For more information visit the Ministry of Forests
mountain pine beetle website at http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfp/mountain_pine_beetle/
online.
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contact: |
Ministry of Forests 250 387-8486 |
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Visit the Province's website at www.gov.bc.ca for online information and services. |
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