| Alberta environmentalists are concerned that government-mandated logging to combat the spread of the mountain pine beetle will be another nail in the coffin for woodland caribou, listed provincially and federally as a threatened species.
Environmentalists are worried that important caribou habitat will be destroyed in the government’s quest to stop the spread of mountain pine beetle. The insect kills the trees it embeds in. It has devastated British Columbia’s forest industry and the Alberta government fears the same impact here. The government estimates there could be 1.5 million pine trees that have already been infected by the beetle in an area running north of Jasper National Park all the way up to Peace River in northwestern Alberta.
Forestry companies have been asked by the government to adjust their harvesting plans and make it a priority to cut down infected trees or tree stands considered most susceptible to infestation.
Cliff Wallis, past president of the Alberta Wilderness Association, says he’s worried forestry companies will be forced to log in important caribou habitat in order to take out pine beetle infested trees.
"Logging and caribou spells the end of caribou for the area," says Wallis. "The caribou will disappear."
When an area is logged the caribou no longer have lichen to eat or cover from predators. Wallis says the newly regenerating forest also becomes more attractive to moose and deer, which then attract wolves. Wolves are the caribou’s biggest predator.
Wallis says he’s skeptical that large-scale logging of the forest will even stop the spread of mountain pine beetle.
"We have an unproven method of killing pine beetle competing with a proven method for killing off caribou, so our choice is quite clear," he says.
Environmental groups are concerned about the Narraway and Red Rock caribou herds that live in the mountain pine beetle infested areas and are in a "precarious" state due to current industrial development.
Michel Proulx, spokesperson for Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, says the government remains committed to "keeping caribou on the landscape" but he admits "mountain pine beetle does bring a new variable into the equation."
He points out that forestry companies won’t be able to increase their annual allowable cuts, but have been asked to concentrate on mountain pine beetle infested forest.
"We have to take action against the mountain pine beetle. We simply must because if we don’t’ the consequences could be very bad," he says, explaining that forestry companies will still be required to meet special requirements if they log in caribou habitat.
Parker Hogan, executive director of public affairs for the Alberta Forest Products Association, says forestry companies have worked hard to try to reduce their impact on caribou. But he admits that such plans may have to be shelved.
"Right now it’s about priorities and the forest industry is doing what we’re told to do in this situation. We’ve had to throw out our current planning," he says. "Is there going to be impacts (on caribou)? My guess is there might be but… it’s a question of some impacts now or some unbelievably atrocious impacts not only in Alberta but across the country if we don’t do it."
Hogan says it’s estimated that one tree infected by mountain pine beetle can infect eight to ten other trees. This could mean that Alberta would have eight to 10 million infected trees by next year if nothing is done. |
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