BC Forests

Detailed information about science-based management of the beetle outbreak in British Columbia can be found in our report Salvaging Solutions. 

A large outbreak of mountain pine beetle in interior forests has been one of the highest-profile forestry issues in British Columbia in the past few years. Both the provincial Ministry of Forests and logging companies are using this latest beetle epidemic as an opportunity to clearcut huge swaths of forest.

Since 1997, mountain pine beetles have infested over 300,000 hectares of lodgepole pine forests in BC's central interior, around the cities of Prince George and Quesnel. In previous outbreaks, mountain pine beetles have killed as many as 80 million trees distributed over 450,000 hectares, making them the second most important natural disturbance agent after fire in these forests.

Logging won't stop pine beetle

The current approach of the forests ministry is to aggressively log infested and dead trees in an effort to slow the outbreak and reduce losses in timber values. The Suzuki Foundation, however, believes salvaging beetle-killed timber is solely an economic remedy of short-term benefit to government and industry revenues. If the goal is to reduce the incidence of future outbreaks, clearcutting beetle-infested trees now is not the solution. In fact, large-scale clearcutting may actually increase the probability of outbreaks of even greater intensity by creating even-aged stands of the host lodgepole pine.

Foresters have attempted to manage beetle outbreaks across North America for over a hundred years, yet research shows that their management interventions have never controlled a large outbreak. Harvesting affected trees may slow the rate that mountainpine beetles spread in some areas if efforts are well focussed, coordinated, and combined with early detection before large outbreaks occur. However, the outbreak will continue until the supply of susceptible trees runs out or a cold winter destroys the larvae.

Background Information

A paper published by University of Oregon scientists in 2001 suggests that the productivity and health of forests actually benefit in the long-term from the impact of insect outbreaks. Ecosystem-based management, which would selectively remove trees if any logging was deemed beneficial, keeps the beetle population at its natural level and helps prevent epidemic levels. 

It is important to understand that mountain pine beetle, and other bark beetles, are native species and a ubiquitous feature of many forests, including those in the BC interior. These beetles are present everywhere lodgepole pine is a significant component of the forest, and they are a natural and essential elements of the forests. Beetle-killed trees provide vital ecological services and functions even when they are dead, such as nesting and roosting habitat for woodland birds, food sources for beetle predators, and nutrient cycling.

Given these important functions, the current rhetoric in British Columbia about the "war against the beetle" is inappropriate. Extensive clearcutting in affected forests will not control the present outbreak. The purpose of any 'salvage' logging is to remove and process dead timber before the wood is so degraded that it has no market value. This differs from logging affected forests in an effort to reduce beetle abundance where broods are still present.

The scale of the present outbreak in British Columbia means forest managers can do little to control or contain the spread and duration of the outbreak. Therefore, the focus of any management plan must be on the future condition of the host lodgepole pine trees and not on the beetle.

Clearcutting not the Solution

Instead of clearcutting affected trees, the Suzuki Foundation believes that any management plan for the mountain pine beetle, other bark beetles, and forests in general, must be based on a sound ecosystem-based approach.

Ecosystem-based management would focus on the entire forest ecosystem rather than just attempting to deal with the beetles. This holistic approach recognizes beetle outbreaks as part of the forest's capacity for self-renewal as is the case with fire, where disturbances and change are part of nature. The fundamental management goal of this approach is to maintain maximum ecological diversity and heterogeneity in order to reduce the forest's susceptibility to future beetle outbreaks.

Read about the essential components of an ecosystem approach to beetle management.

More information that dispels many of the common myths surrounding the mountain pine beetle outbreak can be found on the BC Parks website.