The infestation of Douglas-fir bark beetles that took over 90 hectares of forest just outside Nelson is a sign of what one local expert calls an impending provincial catastrophe.
Gerald Cordeiro, a forest development manager with Kalesnikoff Lumber, first alerted Nelson city council to the infestation . On Monday he returned to say the infestation had been mostly been removed, but the entire region is vulnerable.
91裸聊视频淚 don91裸聊视频檛 think it91裸聊视频檚 an exaggeration to call it a crisis,91裸聊视频� said Cordeiro. 91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 not on the scale of the mountain pine beetle, but fir forests are generally not on the scale of pine forests in B.C., or what we used to have as a pine forest.
91裸聊视频淲e have some really heavily fir-dominated forests [in the Kootenays], especially on our south and west aspects. We91裸聊视频檙e going to see some pretty devastating effects.91裸聊视频�
Cordeiro said a cutting permit was granted by the forest ministry to remove infested trees. Trap trees, which are fallen healthy trees, were also used to attract beetles. Those trees were in turn taken to a mill and destroyed along with the beetles inside.
Although the majority of the infestation was removed, Cordeiro said beetles still likely exist at the Ward Creek and Wee Selous Creek sites because those locations were not accessible.
He also warned the infestation could return to Selous Creek, which serves as a secondary water source for Nelson that is used in the summer to support the main source at Five Mile Creek.
91裸聊视频淵ou have to continually monitor it because the bugs are very mobile, they fly. We could reduce to an endemic population in one area and they could fly in from a neighbouring watershed in a very short period of time.91裸聊视频�
Douglas-fir bark beetles kill trees within one to two years, after which the infested wood cannot be salvaged.
A by the provincial government found 78,471 hectares of forest infested by the beetle.
Cordeiro pointed to developing infestations on the North Shore and around Kokaneee Creek, and added some beetles have already been found on private properties within city limits.
91裸聊视频淚 would say it91裸聊视频檚 almost becoming ubiquitous in the fir forests around Nelson.91裸聊视频�
Fire break proposed
As the infestation grows, so too does the possibility of previously green trees becoming more likely to burn.
Cordeiro said Kalesnikoff has begun a planning process in partnership with the Regional District of Central Kootenay that would build an estimated 150-hectare fire break in the Selous Creek area.
91裸聊视频淚t involves a sort of light touch, selective cut to remove the most flammable, most at-risk, what we would call climate change loser trees, unfortunately,91裸聊视频� he said.
91裸聊视频淭hose being cedar and hemlock that carry that really scary Crown fire. So the idea is to reduce the amounts of those trees, open the canopy up a little bit, [and] promote more broad leaf species and brush.91裸聊视频�
Cordeiro added the company will engage in public consultation as part of the planning.
He also said he91裸聊视频檚 exploring how agroecology, which is the study of how ecological processes can be applied to agricultural production, might be used to find new uses for land undergoing fuel mitigation.
As forests are thinned and canopies opened up, Cordeiro said, the space can still be used to provide for societal needs such as food security.
91裸聊视频淚 don91裸聊视频檛 have all the answers right now but I feel the concept is good, that we can get back some other benefits from those forests so we91裸聊视频檙e not just managing them for timber or aesthetics,91裸聊视频� he said.
91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e going to be managing them for fire hazard so let91裸聊视频檚 take advantage of whatever opportunity that throws at us.91裸聊视频�
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tyler.harper@nelsonstar.com
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