The Town of Canmore received $75,000 from the province to help slow the eastward spread of the mountain pine beetle on Tuesday (Jan. 22).
The money will be used to cut and burn infected trees throughout the townsite, according to Barbara Buchmann, the town’s parks and cemetery coordinator.
“We hope to start the work the first week of February,” she said.
The province has already identified 100 infected trees in the townsite, the majority of which are located in the Silvertip area, however, that number is likely to increase as a ground survey gets underway over the next two weeks.
The program will likely be significantly smaller than in 2008-09 when Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, now known as Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP) found nearly 30,000 infected trees in the eastern Rockies.
“When I was first elected more than 10 years ago the pine beetle was a quite a serious concern here in the Bow Valley and we had a fairly significant program to eradicate and reduce the pine beetle in Canmore and Banff, which was largely effective,” said Mayor John Borrowman.
He credited favourable weather patterns, as well as the program, for keeping the beetle at bay, unlike in Jasper where the beetle has devastated the forest.
Mountain pine beetle is native to North America, however, in recent years it has expanded beyond its traditional range, spreading eastward into Alberta, particularly in the northeastern part of the province.
Successful reproduction of the mountain pine beetle depends on several factors, including daily temperature fluctuations, under-bark temperatures and the ‘winter-readiness’ of beetle larvae.
Oneil Carlier, minister of agriculture and forestry, said the province has spent upwards of $30 million a year to try to slow the spread of the beetle and denied it was a lost cause even as the beetle continues its eastward march towards Saskatchewan.
“This isn’t a loss cause,” said Carlier. “We know from the eradication progress we’ve had in the northwest corner (of the province) that it is possible to slow the advancement of this pest and we need to continue to do so.”
MLA Cameron Westhead was also in attendance for the announcement.
