[A-List] Russia re global warming

[Macdonald Stainsby]

Michael Hudson wrote:
>
> Pine forests might grow better but insects,
> normally killed in winter, could thrive. Heavy
> transport machines are already getting bogged
> down on normally icy forest tracks as spring
> arrived early, and storms in Scandinavia in
> recent years toppled record amounts of timber.

Devastation looms: Mountain pine beetle threatens industry, U of A study 
reveals

Paul Marck, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Wednesday, March 28, 2007

EDMONTON - A University of Alberta school of business study on the 
mountain pine beetle presents a doomsday scenario of vast tracts of dead 
forest, falling trees and massive forest-fire hazards.

The 42-page research paper, Managing the Economic Impacts of the 
Mountain Pine Beetle Outbreaks in Alberta, says that if the pestilence 
rivals the damage in B.C., there would not be enough milling capacity in 
Alberta to process all of the infested timber.

U of A business dean Mike Percy said the study is aimed at policy-makers 
in government, forestry educators and decision-makers in business. The 
numbers, he says, give credence to the concerns of groups that have been 
saying it raises a significant threat to the viability of the forest 
industry.
The Weyerhaeuser pulp and sawmill stockpiles pine beetle-infested wood 
at its plant in Grande Prairie last month. Major sawmills in the area 
are resequencing their harvesting to account for the invasion of 
mountain pine beetles.View Larger Image View Larger Image
The Weyerhaeuser pulp and sawmill stockpiles pine beetle-infested wood 
at its plant in Grande Prairie last month. Major sawmills in the area 
are resequencing their harvesting to account for the invasion of 
mountain pine beetles.
Bruce Edwards, The Journal
Email to a friendEmail to a friendPrinter friendlyPrinter friendly
Font:

     * *
     * *
     * *
     * *

One report cited in the study says that within five years, beetle-killed 
stands start falling over, with up to 50 per cent of trees fallen within 
nine years and 90 per cent knocked down after 14 years.

"In general, MPB-attacked stands have the potential for greater 
ground-level fine and coarse woody fuel volumes, which can significantly 
alter forest fire behaviour and increase the fire hazard within the 
stand," says Percy.

Plus, the study says further major outbreaks would create significant 
shortages of forest workers and equipment, further limiting harvesting 
and utilization of beetle wood.

The paper utilizes the Foothills Model Forest near Jasper for a case study.

"It likely, significantly, underestimates the impact of mountain pine 
beetle," says Percy, of relatively low infestation rates of seven to 
nine per cent of trees in the model forest.

The report also extrapolates data on the beetle's path of destruction 
through B.C. forests which has seen nine million hectares destroyed. 
Scientists predict that 80 per cent of B.C.'s pine forests will be lost 
to the bug by 2013.

"This needs a degree of co-ordination between provinces and the federal 
government. It needs the environmental community as well to be engaged. 
When you look at the range of stakeholders you need singing from the 
same song sheet, it's a pretty formidable exercise."

The study was completed by Blake Phillips, James Beck Jr. and Trevor 
Nickel of the U of A's Western Centre for Economic Research.

The paper says that industry would initially benefit from a surge of 
timber flowing through mills. But the resulting lumber would flood 
markets and have an impact on prices. "There would be a surge of timber 
onto the market. In a sense, it would be as if now, in effect, we are 
mining the forest," Percy said.

Plus, there could be an extended period of 171 to 190 years required for 
forests to fully regenerate their lost volumes.

If unchecked, some authorities forecast the pine beetle will ravage the 
northern boreal forest clear across the country to Labrador in years to 
come.

The study says that beyond economic and forestry industry capacity 
issues, there are a myriad of social and environmental issues which need 
to be balanced in any large-scale plan to manage the pest.

Late last year, provincial officials found more than two million Alberta 
lodgepole pines were infected in the foothills stretching from north of 
Grande Prairie to south of Grande Cache. There is another outbreak along 
the Eastern Slopes near Canmore.

More than $23 billion of commercial timber is at risk. Billions of pine 
beetles, each the size of a grain of rice, were carried across the 
Rockies in the jet stream last summer. The beetles burrow beneath the 
bark, feed and lay eggs in mature trees. They often exist at endemic 
levels, but in great numbers kill trees. They also infect a tree with a 
blue-tinged fungus that eventually proves fatal.

Alberta has so far sunk about $27 million into efforts to contain the pest.

pmarck at thejournal.canwest.com


© The Edmonton Journal 2007




-- 
Macdonald Stainsby
http://independentmedia.ca/survivingcanada
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green
In the contradiction lies the hope
    --Bertholt Brecht.