Adult mountain pine beetles prefer large diameter trees, according to the Canadian Forest Service.
Bush/Chaney/Rove's fault.
Adult mountain pine beetles prefer large diameter trees, according to the Canadian Forest Service.
Solution - Light a fire! BC's grasslands are also shrinking because we put out forest fires. Small, low intensity fires are a key to healthy balance of pine forests and grasslands. Unfortunately, because there have been so few fires allowed to burn, low-intensity fire is now very hard to have. So much debris is laying on the ground that high-intesity fire is often the result. Nontheless, fire is the answer. Managing it is the question.
thank the anti-logging tree huggers for this one.
This infestation sounds similar to one that attacked the trees in the forests of Northern Arizona a few years back. It was due to a lack of rain that allowed the tree to produce a sap, that the beetles stayed away from out of dislike for it. In other words, the beetles were a natural occurrance, but due to lack of rain, they multiplied and devoured the healthy parts of the trees, which caused the tree to die, thus creating a huge fire hazard...
I sincerely hope Canada is able to stop this bug before it hits the US, especially Michigan. We've been clobbered by the Emerald Ash Borer, which is now affecting nearby states. Beautiful ash trees that aren't already diseased have to be removed because of this pest. With all the pine here in MI, the last thing we want is to lose more trees.
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