Bark Beetle Situation Factored into IFPA Planning

October 20, 2001

The Morice and Lakes Forest Districts continue to be impacted by one over-riding forest management concern: bark beetle infestations and subsequent timber damage.

It is not possible to carry out comprehensive forest management planning in this area without taking into consideration spreading bark beetle infestations. According to recent estimates by the Mountain Pine Beetle Emergency Task Force the beetle has expanded its range by 75 per cent over the past year and encompasses about 10 per cent of the provincial landbase.

Southern portions of each district are overrun with bark beetle infestations. Both spruce beetle and mountain pine beetle kill living trees by laying eggs under the bark. A fungus enters trees with the beetle that inhibits nutrient circulation, causes a blue stain in the sapwood, and ultimately kills the tree.

"A central part of our focus on the Morice & Lakes IFPA is to model future forest conditions to aid in forest management decisions," said Jim Burbee, manager of the Morice & Lakes IFPA. "The beetle epidemic, which represents a huge agent of change in the forests of the Lakes and Morice Timber Supply Areas, must be factored into this modeling and all of our planning processes." IFPA committee members, management and consultants are all working with government ministries and local forest companies to ensure that up-to-date beetle information forms an integral part of IFPA forest planning efforts.

According to Steve Voros, senior resource analyst for the McGregor Group, data from the Lakes and Morice Forest Districts, specifically their bark beetle management strategies and overview maps, is essential to the success of the IFPA's Sustainable Forest Management Plan. "We need this district information to make our analysis meaningful," said Voros. The Lakes Forest District has been especially hard hit by the mountain pine beetle and B.C.'s chief forester recently announced a temporary doubling of the Allowable Annual Cut (AAC) in the district to help cope with the dead and dying timber.

One of the emerging problems in the Lakes Forest District is how to allocate beetle-infested timber to licensees and contractors so that it can be salvaged before it loses economic value. A further difficulty facing forest managers is to address the beetle problem - using primarily salvage harvesting - while still maintaining all values in the forest, including biodiversity, wildlife habitat and ecological integrity along waterways and other areas.

"We need to come up with ways of harvesting this wood without impacting non-timber values, like biodiversity and wildlife," said Voros. "It's a vital part of our forest management planning."

Voros will be working with his colleagues in the McGregor Group and with the Scenario Planning Teams in the Morice and Lakes on forest management strategies aimed at controlling the beetle spread while also mitigating damage to the environment values.
"The analysis that we'll be running will help us understand how much non-timber values will be compromised by harvesting and how long they will take to recover," said Voros. "This will point the way to future silviculture options."

According to Burbee, gathering data on beetle spread and management strategies is key, but additional projects are also being planned as part of the Morice & Lakes IFPA, like a remote sensing project that is looking to improve beetle detection methods. For now, staying on top of current infestations and adding this information to planning efforts is a top priority in the Morice and Lakes IFPA.