Press Release
September 28, 2003
Logging in BC's Provincial Parks is Misguided
SIDNEY, BC - When Premier Campbell says that logging may have to occur in parks to control the mountain pine beetle he is misguided ecologically, and in fact logging may exacerbate the problem. It is known that beetles fly off logging trucks carrying infested wood and that bark falling to the side of the road often carries larva that generate to become adults. Removing and transporting dead trees doesn't stop the infestation and may in fact broaden the distribution.
"There is a mountain beetle infestation in our interior forests, and it is not caused by or chiefly centered in parks," says Bob Peart, the Executive Director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society’s BC Chapter (CPAWS-BC). "The mountain pine beetle is native to interior forests. The present outbreak is caused by warmer winters, our forest harvesting practices and fire mismanagement. The solution is allowing natural systems to prevail, prescribed burning, and tree thinning, piling and burning on site. We also need colder winters."
Organizations like CPAWS-BC would be pleased to collaborate in the conversation about the mountain pine beetle with the Premier at his proposed forum in Quesnel. However we are disappointed that he hasn't extended conservation groups the courtesy of an invitation like he has to his forestry friends and political allies.
Peart went on to muse: "that he knows many people and groups who would be angered by the Premier's statement. They will see it as a ruse or red herring to begin commercially harvest in parks. As a result the Premier is risking market campaigns of interior forest products like the government has experienced on the coast".
The mountain pine beetle outbreak is seriously threatening the stability of some interior communities. There is no chance the mountain pine beetle can be eradicated. Harvest management practices must be altered throughout the working forest to minimize future outbreaks. Clear cutting large swaths and accessing timber in our provincial parks won't solve the problem and will do little to affect the risk of future outbreaks.
For information on the mountain pine beetle, read our publication, "Mountain Pine Beetle - Setting the Story Straight".
CPAWS-BC has been campaigning to conserve and manage BC's parks and wilderness system properly for over 25 years.
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Contact
Bob Peart
Executive Director
Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society - BC Chapter
Tel: 604-685-7445 (Vancouver)
Tel: 250-655-0250 (Sidney)
CPAWS - British Columbia Chapter