B.C. moves to stop pine beetles from crossing Rockies
VICTORIA - In a bid to stop the mountain pine beetle from crossing the Rockies and causing billions of dollars in damage, more than 45,000 infested trees were cut down this winter by the Alberta and B.C.governments.
"This work is part of a $17-million program aimed at limiting the beetle's spread ...," B.C. Forests and Range Minister Rich Coleman said in a news release issued today. "We destroyed tens of thousands of infested trees in the border zone before the beetles could fly east later this spring or summer."
It's estimated that about 8.7 million hectares of B.C. forest - an area larger than New Brunswick - were infested by the pine beetle last year, the government says. Experts believe that the beetle will kill as much as 80 per cent of the lodgepole pine in the province.
The B.C. government has asked the federal government for up to $1 billion to deal with the infestation, which turns the pine trees reddish brown when the beetle infiltrates a tree.
While much of the B.C. lodgepole pine forest is already infested with the tiny bug, which can fly from tree to tree, Alberta still hopes to stop the insects' spread to its forests. It's believed the pine beetles may attack Alberta's jack pine forests if they get across the mountains.
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