There is mounting evidence that salvage logging of pine beetle-killed stands causes more ecological degradation than leaving them alone, scientist Phil Burton told a forum at UNBC on Tuesday.
Given that only about one-third of the beetle-impacted area is made up of pure lodgepole pine stands, and given that the dominant form of harvesting is clear-cut logging, when salvage operations take place they are also removing the secondary forest structure, he said on the opening day of a two-day forum on the impacts of the pine beetle.
That secondary structure -- particularly the non-pine species -- could provide timber for mills in 20 to 40 years so is important from a mid-term timber supply perspective, explained Burton, who works with the Canadian Forest Service in Prince George.
It is an issue that communities in the heart of the beetle-epidemic are particularly concerned about, given the mid-term timber supply is forecast to drop about 40 per cent in the next decade, and even greater in some communities. The decrease in timber supply will bring a decrease in traditional forest-based jobs in many of the forest-based communities. The Canadian Forest Service has estimated that a conservative 22-per-cent decrease in the timber supply, will cause 600 job losses in Burns Lake and Houston. In Prince George, a conservative 17-per-cent decrease in the timber supply would cause a job loss of 2,900.
Burton said the salvage logging can also have an impact on wildlife habitat given the large areas of salvage logging. It is important that wildlife have snags and brush to hide in, or they will be forced off the land and be compromised, he said.
Wide-spread salvage logging is also an issue for carbon loss, as there are projections that show a greater loss of carbon from salvage-logged areas, he said. Carbon loss is an issue in climate change as carbon is considered a greenhouse gas, in part, responsible for warming temperatures.
The forum, organized by the Forest Research Extension Partnership (FORREX), a non-profit organization which partners with industry and government, is meant to provide an opportunity for scientists and industry and community leaders to share lessons learned from the epidemic and explore community-based solutions.
Bill Bourgeois, a B.C. forest-industry consultant, stressed that the impacts of the beetle epidemic are significant: three quarters of the lodgepole pine forecast to be killed and 180 communities impacted. The impact on the forest industry is forecast to be a 40 per cent reduction in the Interior, 19 per cent provincially, noted Bourgeois, who based his presentation on a overview analysis of the current research on the epidemic impacts.
"It's not a trivial impact," he said.
He pointed out that some communities are more vulnerable than others with the Cheslatta First Nation, Burns Lake and Quesnel at the top of the list. However, economic dependance on the forest sector is not the only determinant of how successful communities will be dealing with the impacts of the epidemic. Bourgeois said social considerations such as a willingness to change are also important.
He suggested that tourism provided the best opportunity for replacing jobs, but acknowledged that while the forestry jobs may be replaced the economic contribution wouldn't be the same.
Bourgeois said bioenergy -- which is being heavily promoted by the provincial government -- is not a cure-all for the impacts of the epidemic. It's why government strategies to diversify communities must be customized, he said. "One size fits all doesn't work."
Bourgeois also offered a warning, noting that by 2020 there will be suitable habitat for the beetle through to Manitoba.
He said while the reaction to large-scale disturbances usually focuses on analyzing the impacts and mitigation, much less energy is spent on adaptation, which needs more attention.The Prince George Citizen
