Government mobilises against pine beetle
One of the decisions announced today by Cabinet was that funding, to the tune of one million dollars, has been allocated for fighting the Southern Pine Bark Beetle. That’s the bug that has already fatally infected over sixty percent of the Mountain Pine Ridge. Coincidentally News 5’s Jose Sanchez was in the pine ridge yesterday to follow up on the original story he did in October. This is what he found.
Jose Sanchez, Reporting
With a hundred and ten thousand acres of pine forests facing death in the Mountain Pine Ridge area, the Forest Department efforts to suppress and eradicate the Southern Pine Beetle has not been particularly quick, but things maybe changing.
Jose Sanchez
“One of the reasons you said that the beetle infested the area is because of budgetary constraints and lack of manpower. What has been done since the last time we spoke?”
Earl Green, Technical Planning Coordinator, Forest Dept.
“Well manpower has been beefed up. We’ve added at least ten more employees in this area. We’ve gotten money, we’ve repaired our equipment, and heavy-duty equipment is in place. With more staff we’re able to get out and supervise the work we’re doing to bring it under control.”
The beetle, capable of flying only a few feet, spread across many miles by infecting one tree at a time and releasing approximately one hundred and sixty more of its kind into the forest.
Earl Green
“We’ve actually extended our efforts to the rest of the country. We’ve had at least three flights over this area, one over the south so far. What the one in the south has done is to show… we’ve been able to identify a number of spots in the area where the tree are showing the discoloration. We follow that up with work on the ground to try to find those spots and contain it. As a matter of fact we’ve had the staff in the southern part of the country working for about four consecutive weekends, even New Years Eve, when everybody was on a holiday, they were out there working, circling these areas.”
In addition to aerial inspections, the foresters attempt to head off the beetle’s advance by cutting containment lines thirteen metres wide in front of the infested areas.
Jose Sanchez
“We’ve been out here a few months ago and we spoke to you about the infestation, what has happened since then. Has it gotten worse? Better?”
Hubert Arana, Forester
“Well the infestation, I would say, in my opinion, continues as it was, however, we are achieving a lot by putting in the containment lines. Once we have the containment lines, most of the infestation just stops at the point. However, in some instances some beetles will fly and cross the containment line. What we will do is just go around that and then have them controlled again. Once we have them controlled we move to other areas, as you expect the other areas are growing since the infestation is moving and that will actually require more time to control that particular infestation.”
Jose Sanchez
“How many people do you actually have working now on the ground?”
Earl Green
“Here in the pine ridge we have about twenty. We also have heavy-duty equipment because we have two caterpillar tractors on the job now also to create that containment line. Down in the south we also have between Melinda, Savannah and Machaka Forest stations we have another dozen. But I think the important point is here and in the south we have the assistance of the logging companies.”
Jose Sanchez
“Since October 2000, the Southern Pine Bark Beetle has ravaged the Mountain Pine Ridge area. And even though the Forest Department is hoping to combat and contain the beetle within the next three months, it doesn’t change the fact that sixty percent of the trees have been infected and will eventually die. Reporting for News 5, Jose Sanchez.”
There is an estimated thirty-five million cubic feet of lumber that can be potentially harvested from the dying forest. In addition to existing logging operations in the area, new companies will be invited to log the reserve in order to salvage the wood before it rots. Government estimates that the logging and containment operations will employ seven hundred people at their peak.
