Mountain Pine Beetle – Dendroctronus ponderosae

1. Mountain Pine Beetle – Dendroctronus ponderosae • Presentation by: • Spray Lake Sawmills • Woodlands

2. Mountain Pine Beetle - Biology • Small, cylindrical, dark coloured, size of grain of rice • 1 year life cycle (generally) • Mid summer - Adult females fly & attack new trees by boring through the bark into the sapwood

3. Mountain Pine Beetle – Biology continued • Females construct vertical galleries in the phloem • Males join them, mate, females deposit eggs • Eggs hatch into larvae & feed outward from the vertical galleries

4. Mountain Pine Beetle – Biology continued • Over winter under bark as larvae • Spring – transform into pupae • Summer – emerge as adults, fly and attack new trees

5. Mountain Pine Beetle - Range • Southern Rocky Mountains & west of the continental divide • Outbreak in Crowsnest Pass area about 25 years ago • Not generally indigenous to Alberta

6. Mountain Pine Beetle – Current Situation • Several years of dry summers and mild winters • 50 years of fire suppression • Result = vast tracks of optimal age & size of lodgepole pine with a climate favourable for beetle expansion

7. Mountain Pine Beetle – The Target • The MPB can thrive on all pine species • Alberta’s forests are 42% pine and 67% locally • At present, primary host is Lodgepole Pine • It can also do well in Whitebark Pine and Jack Pine • This will open the door for expansion across Canada’s Boreal Forest

8. Mountain Pine Beetle – Natural Controls • Endemic Populations • Woodpeckers, viruses, climate , fire and other natural disturbances • Epidemic Populations • Cold winter weather with –30 to –40 dgrees

9. Mountain Pine Beetle – Trees Natural Defense • Resin production will “pitch” the beetle from the tree • Healthy young trees will have a stronger chance of fighting off the beetle • Older, weakened or stressed trees are more vulnerable

10. Mountain Pine Beetle – How the Tree is Killed • The shear number of beetles building galleries will effectively girdle the tree • In addition, the beetle introduces a blue stain fungus into the tree which blocks the transport of water and nutrients

11. Mountain Pine Beetle – Tools n’ Tactics • Tools & tactics will vary with landbase designations and organizational mandates & objectives • They will typically range from single tree treatments through to prescribed burns and harvesting

12. Mountain Pine Beetle – Mgmt Guidance Documents • MPB Action Plan for Alberta • Interpretive Bulletin for Planning Response Operations • Ground Rules Addendum • Directive for Transport & Storage of Affected Logs

13. Mountain Pine Beetle – Action Plan for Alberta • Goal – mitigate effects of MPB on social, environmental & economic values of our forests • Defines 3 mgmt strategies • Control strategy • Prevention Strategy • Salvage Strategy

14. Mountain Pine Beetle – Action Plan Control Strategy • Aerial and ground surveys to locate infested trees • Response Level I – Single Tree Treatment • Response Level II – Stand Level Treatment

15. Mountain Pine Beetle – Action Plan Prevention (pine) Strategy • Reduce spread and outbreak potential by reducing the area of susceptible stands • Model stand susceptibility • Reduce susceptible stands to 25% in 20 yrs

16. Mountain Pine Beetle – Action Plan Salvage Strategy • Kicks in where/when the MPB infestation is beyond control • The focus is on recovering dead and dying trees before the fibre is lost

17. Mountain Pine Beetle – Interpretive Bulletin • Outlines criteria and protocols for planning harvest operations in response to the MPB • Provides a direct, detailed, linkage to the Action Plan

18. Mountain Pine Beetle – Ground Rules Addendum • Contains an outline of modified provincial ground rules to enable quick implementation of MPB operations • Provides “ground level” operational direction/guidance for conducting harvest activity

19. Mountain Pine Beetle – Directive for Log Management • This is an SRD Directive aimed at reducing the risk-of-spread when using harvesting as a control treatment • Includes: • Log transport • Log storage • Manufacturing/residue management

20. Mountain Pine Beetle – Environmental Impacts • Domino effect impacting a chain of resource values • Water table • Surface run-off / H2O quality • Fisheries • Veg. composition • Wildlife habitat values • Wildfire susceptibility • etc

21. Mountain Pine Beetle – Social / Economic Impacts • Cascading impacts effecting a range of social and economic values • Aesthetic / recreation values • Range / forage values • Access / class of roads • Wood supply for forest industry • Employment • Municipal tax base

22. Mountain Pine Beetle – Forest Industry Economic Realities • Planning & chasing beetle affected wood is expensive • Lower grades, recoveries and product values are expected • Lumber markets are the lowest in 20 years • Operating / Manufacturing costs have sky rocketed

23. Mountain Pine Beetle – Economic Realities continued • There are announcements of mill closures almost weekly • Off-loading the costs to fight the MPB onto the industry is not an option • This is a societal issue not just a forest industry issue

24. Mountain Pine Beetle – What Can You Do? • While the forest industry is the provinces biggest “tool” to help battle the beetle everyone has a part to play • Patience & understanding will be required • Help us be effective • Streamline admin processes and approvals • Public education

25. Mountain Pine Beetle – Local Initiatives • DFMP – beetle susceptibility modeling and harvest re-sequencing • Stakeholder Communication • Prevention (pine) strategy plans for: • Jumping Pound • East & West Ghost

26. Mountain Pine Beetle – Wake-up Statistics • Triple last years numbers for beetle infested trees in the Southern Rockies despite SRD’s efforts with Level I Control Strategies • A minimum 98% winter-kill is required to start reducing the population

27. Mountain Pine Beetle – More Information • www.srd.gov.ab.ca/forests/health/mpb.html • www.pc.gc.ca/dpp-mpb • www.pfc.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/entomology/mpb/index_e.html • www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfp/mountain_pine_beetle/ • www.barkbeetlelinks.ca • Call: 310-BUGS

28. Mountain Pine Beetle – Mgmt Documents continued

29. Mountain Pine Beetle – Preliminary Plan (Jumping Pound Creek)

30. Mountain Pine Beetle – Visualization Modeling Computer visualizations of proposed cut-blocks within Jumping Pound Creek Compartments (FMA 0100038) as seen from locations near Barrier Lake and the Barrier Lake information centre.

31. Mountain Pine Beetle – Preliminary Plan (West Ghost)

32. Mountain Pine Beetle – Questions???