by Evan Matthews | [email protected]
Yellowhead Member of Parliament Jim Eglinski took aim at the Trudeau government for its response — or lack thereof — to the devastating effects on the Yellowhead region, specifically, Jasper National Park.
On Thursday Oct. 19, Eglinski took part in debate over a Conservative motion. The motion calls for federal support of the Yellowhead’s forestry industry and workers, largely based in Hinton. The topic is closely tied to the current and potential future effects of the pine beetle in the Yellowhead riding.
“I have been working for two years with the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, to take some serious action with respect to the pine beetle in Jasper National Park,” Eglinski said to Parliament. “It has destroyed the forest there. It has now moved into the province of Alberta and, in one year — if the members across would listen — it has increased tenfold.”
He’s not wrong, according to local entities.
From an ecological perspective the beetle isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as the insect is a naturally occurring species in Western Canada. However, both Parks and the municipality have acknowledged that once the beetles move on, they leave behind an increased risk of wildfire to communities such as Jasper.
What is being done?
As a result, Parks Canada has fire mitigation plans in place scheduled for the “fall and spring,” according to the 2017 prescribed fires portion of the Parks Canada website.
The Fitzhugh was unable to obtain a more specific timeline before press deadline.
“Prescribed fires are only conducted under exacting conditions (e.g. weather, moisture, wind direction, supporting resources, etc.), and will only go forward when the safety of the public, our crews, park infrastructure and neighbouring lands can be assured,” the site stated.
As part of its mountain pine beetle mitigation plan, released last summer, Parks Canada is set to implement several strategies outside the municipal boundary to slow the beetle’s eastward spread.
According to the plan, Parks intends to carry out a series of prescribed fires immediately west of town on the bench. The prescribed fires — six in total — will eliminate dead trees located upwind from town, creating a buffer should a fire come from the west. The belief is those burns will happen over the winter.
Fercho says the municipality wants to see the six areas “treated” to remove “forest fire fuels” — and to create a large control line out of town — either by controlled burns or through mechanical removal.
The six areas are critical to Jasper’s protection, according to Fercho, as they would create a fire break and control line if a fire were to be approaching from the west, which is the most likely threat given consistent winds from that direction and a massive contiguous forest now lined with dead pine.
Some control line work has already been completed in preparation for the prescribed burns. Once the prescribed fires are complete Parks estimates it will eliminate 420 hectares of mountain pine beetle habitat upwind from town.
Other aspects to Parks’ strategy include cutting down trees and using harvesting equipment to eliminate larger patches of infected forest.
Within the municipal boundary, in July, the Municipality of Jasper began its annual tree program to identify and remove hazardous trees. Last year the town cut down about 300 trees.
Last year the Jasper Fire Department also received a $200,000 provincial grant to reduce the amount of fuel that has regrown in areas previously thinned by Parks Canada between 2003 and 2011, such as the fire road on Pyramid Bench.
Though Fercho praised Parks Canada’s efforts in Jasper, he also echoed Eglinski in saying the federal government could provide more support coming from the Ministries of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, of Natural Resources, of Environment and Climate Change, of Infrastructure and Communities, and of Small Business and Tourism, etc.
“But as far as other communities go, the work Parks Canada has done in preparing Jasper for a wildfire is top-notch,” said Fercho.
He added residents can mitigate the risk by fire smarting their homes by doing things like regularly cleaning their gutters and using fire-resistant materials when building or renovating. Having a full tank of gas an emergency bag is always recommended.
How does Fercho know?
Earlier this year, Fercho held a town meeting to discuss his experience dealing with the mountain pine beetle epidemic that swept through Prince George, B.C., when he worked for the city as the environmental services manager between 2002 and 2011.
When he started working for Prince George the mountain pine beetle was just emerging in the central interior of British Columbia, however within a couple of years the city was inundated by the beetle, forcing it to cut down thousands of trees.
“When those big infestations were coming into Prince George you could actually catch them on weather radar,” said Fercho.
As trees began to turn red and dead he said the next concern was dealing with the increased fire risk posed by the stand.
To mitigate the risk the city cut down thousands of trees in public parks and along boulevards. At its peak the city cut down enough trees to fill 220 logging trucks.
Fercho said the changes were at first shocking for a lot of Prince George residents, but said the shock was due to removing green trees, not red. He added the removal of those trees was necessary to protect the community.
“It’s the green trees that are full of beetles, not the red ones,” Fercho said, adding one infected tree can lead to the infection of up to a dozen more if the conditions are right.
Mountain pine beetles kill trees by burrowing under the bark and mining the phloem, the layer between the bark and wood of the tree. The beetles then lay eggs under the bark. After the eggs hatch, the grub-like larvae spend the winter feeding under the bark. The larvae pupate in the spring and usually emerge as adults in the summer before flying onto the next mature pine tree.
In addition to the damage caused by the beetle, which has a one-year life cycle, the species transmits a blue stain fungus during colonization. The combination of beetle tunneling and blue stain fungi disrupts the movement of water within the tree, rapidly killing it.
The successful reproduction of the mountain pine beetle depends on several factors, including daily temperature fluctuations, under-bark temperatures and the ‘winter-readiness’ of beetle larvae.
If experts are right the number of infected trees is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years.
That changes the fire risk. Between a contemporary forest wildfire burning live, hydrated trees and a beetle wood blaze, the latter is much more volatile, and sends embers soaring into the sky, which can start spot fires ahead of the fire wall.
Safety and environment not the only concern
However, concerns related to the insect extend far beyond environmental and that of public safety.
MP Eglinski was quick to point out the major economic impacts the region could potentially face, too, most of which affect the softwood lumber industry in and around Hinton.
The mountain pine beetle infested most of B.C., but the mountains seemingly acted as a barricade, according to Fercho. However, the beetle had no hesitations a little further north in Peace Country, having stretched across the Prairies into Saskatchewan, he says. This means the mountain pine beetle actually showed up to the east of Hinton originally.
Now beetles have continued to slowly work their way eastward out of the park, giving Hinton a fight on two fronts.
If the problem continues to grow exponentially, as experts expect, the pine beetle could have a major effect on Hinton’s softwood lumber harvest.
Eglinski expressed his disappointment regarding the stalemate between the U.S. and Canada.
“I am concerned even further when it comes to softwood lumber, because the Liberal government is failing in other areas,” said Eglinski.
On Oct. 12, 2015, the Softwood Lumber Agreement between Canada and the United States expired. The softwood lumber industry employs roughly 370,000 people across Canada, according to the federal government.
The Liberals announced an aid package to compensate for the jobs in jeopardy in June.
When the mountain pine beetle first took B.C. by storm, the softwood lumber industry responded by lowering stumpage fees, to encourage harvesting. In response, the United States announced countervailing duties — taxes on international softwood imports — reported to be as high as 24 per cent back in April.
