Waywayseecappo First Nation

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The mountain pine beetle is unstoppable. It will kill between 80 to 95 per cent of B.C.'s pine forests, says First Nation leadership and the government of British Columbia.

"The beetle will run its course," said Grand Chief Ed John of the First Nations Summit in British Columbia. It's the prophecy of Boba.

John said the ancient prophecy of Boba foretold of a time when the land would be plagued by drought and hunger and covered in red. Huge areas of B.C. are currently covered in red pine trees, a symptom of the advanced stages of beetle attack. As the beetle advances, the dying trees will cause drought and affect life in the rivers and streams and reduce forest wildlife.

John said he has been told that reduced trees will mean a higher water table because tree roots will not be retaining water. This will lead to soil erosion and drought. In turn the stream and river levels will rise, affecting spawning grounds and possibly reducing salmon breeding.

John also said trapping will be affected because small animals, such as squirrels, will leave the areas once containing forest. Fur bearing animals, such as the martin, will leave the area because of the lack of squirrels.

The only hope for halting the spread of the beetle is a return to cold winters.

More than 80 of B.C. First Nations are impacted by the mountain pine beetle epidemic. The beetle has already affected an area in B.C. the size of New Brunswick, and while the beetle is currently limited to west of the Rocky Mountains, its spread east to Alberta and the pine trees of the Canadian Shield appears imminent.

The mountain pine beetle is a flying insect that is native to western North America where it attacks large trees of any pine species.

In the past 85 years there have been four large-scale outbreaks of mountain pine beetle in B.C. However, the current outbreak has reached unprecedented proportions. Many believe it is because of global warming, which has prevented the long periods of cold winter weather (-25 C in fall and spring and ?40 C in winter) that are needed to control the beetle. The only other natural enemy of the beetle is fire.

Pesticides are not effective and no natural predator for the beetle exists that can control it.

Currently forestry services pursue a policy of fire suppression that inadvertently allows the beetle to spread, which is killing forests that fighting fires is suppose to prevent.

However, fighting forest fires is viewed as preferable, partly because burnt trees have less economic value than trees killed by the beetle.

Attacked trees typically die over the course of a growing season because the function of their vascular tissue is degenerated as the beetle eats it away. Attacked trees turn blue, yellow and finally red as the effects of the beetle worsen. Dead trees in the forest are more susceptible to fire and needles that fall to the forest floor create another fire hazard.

Faced with an epidemic that could be one of the greatest natural disasters First Nations communities have ever faced, First Nations leadership has come up with an action plan to help mitigate the loss of resources and economic potential to affected communities.

The action plan primarily deals with the economic effects of deforestation and will help to provide for the future of First Nations people due to the loss of use of their land.

A short-term increase in forestry activity is one result of the beetle epidemic, as the dead trees need to be harvested within 10 to 15 years in order to be salvaged. The dead trees also need to be harvested before fire gets them first.

The action plan was formed at an emergency forum in Prince George on Sept. 19 and 20. In attendance at the forum were leaders from the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, First Nations Summit, Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, B.C. Assembly of First Nations, the B.C. Minister of Forests and Range, and the Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation.

The First Nations mountain ine beetle action plan will address the immediate priorities of First Nation communities infested with the beetle and has the financial backing of the new relationship between First Nations and the government of B.C.

The new relationship is an agreement between First Nations and the province to work together. It also provides for funding to First Nations' communities. The B.C. government recently committed $100 million to the new relationship.

"This coming together of our communities will enable us to address the challenges of the mountain pine beetle epidemic from the environmental, ecological, social, cultural and economic perspectives, as well as assist us to identify economic opportunities now and into the future," said Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs.

The First Nations Mountain Pine Beetle Action Plan includes provisions for:

?Rights to forest resources

?Consultation and accommodation

?Environmental sustainability

?Development of new economic opportunities and economic sustainability

?Institutional arrangements consistent with the new relationship

?Representation on domestic and international negotiations that affect forest policy

?Social and cultural sustainability.

Phillip said the province is willing to resource the action plan and incorporate it into its own plans.

Rich Coleman, minister of Forests and Range, and Tom Christensen, minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation, were both very positive about the initial draft of the action plan.

"We were both encouraged that it is an action plan that we can all move forward on," said Christensen.

The B.C. government announced that $100 million is earmarked for combating the effects of the beetle. The money came from federal funds transferred to B.C. last spring.

Cherise Burda, a spokesperson for the David Suzuki Foundation, said the only thing that will stop the mountain pine beetle is a healthy forest. She speaks for conservationists who maintain that curren forestry policy of allowing clear-cutting and the practice of replanting only high profit trees like Lodge Pole pine is fueling the spread of the beetle.

Forests in B.C. used to be comprised of a variety of trees, but now most areas contain predominantly pine trees that the beetle naturally attacks, leaving huge areas in which almost all the trees are dead.