While
mountain pine beetles continue to pose a threat to Alberta’s northern pine forests, virtually no infested trees have been identified in the Crowsnest Pass this year.
Alberta Sustainable Resource Development surveyed three sites north of the Crowsnest Pass on the western side of Goat Mountain this winter, in addition to sites near the Oldman and Dutch Creek provincial recreation areas, finding only a sprinkling of fading trees.
“The threat has almost disappeared (in this area),” said SRD Forest Health Officer Brad Jones. “The decline was much sharper and steeper than we had anticipated.”
Last year’s surveys identified nearly 6,000 infested trees in the Crowsnest Pass, roughly one-third of the previous year.
This year, only 50 sites, with a total of 250 fading trees, have been identified in the Southern Rockies, the majority of which are in the Kananaskis area.
As a result, no fall and burn operations will be implemented in the area this year.
This good news comes as a direct result of the aggressive control work SRD has done over the past two years, Jones said.
In 2009, close to 4,000 trees were removed on the northern side of the Crowsnest Pass near Atlas Road and Dead Man’s Pass.
“Now there are only a handful sprinkled around Crowsnest Pass, Oldman, and Dutch Creek,” said Jones.
