Parks Canada is putting its mountain pine beetle management plan into action. Starting this autumn, Parks will carry out a series of prescribed burns immediately west of town on the bench and near the east gate.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to look far to see that the mountain pine beetle has already taken off here and if we get a winter like we did last year then we can certainly expect that trend to continue,鈥� said Dave Smith, a fire and vegetation specialist with Parks Canada.
鈥淲ith that in mind we have to start thinking about how we鈥檙e going to protect this community鈥攏ot so much from the beetle, but the fire that the beetle could cause.鈥�
The beetles work by burrowing into pine trees and mining the phloem, the layer between the bark and wood of the tree, killing the tree and creating plenty of dry fuel for potential wildfires.
鈥淚f the beetle was just killing the trees that would be fine, but when the trees die they become much more of a fire risk than normal trees,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淭he whole reason we do these burns is to protect the community.鈥�
In its recent mountain pine beetle management plan鈥攚hich was released in August鈥擯arks indicated that in 2015 the beetle colonized approximately 21,500 hectares of forest in Jasper National Park, more than three times the amount than in 2014.
鈥淲e鈥檙e really trying to get a move on this plan,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淏asically we want to kill the trees before the beetle does.鈥�
The burns near town will take place before the end of October. However, because of recent wet weather, Smith said it鈥檚 difficult to set an exact date.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 had the best weather, but we鈥檙e optimistic and we鈥檙e prepared so once we get those nice dry fall days that we usually get then we鈥檒l be able to push the go button,鈥� Smith said.
As Parks gets ready to set the nearby forest ablaze, Smith said staff will be taking the most extreme safety precautions.
鈥淲e have to keep in mind that we鈥檒l be burning close to people鈥檚 backyards. People will see smoke, but we want to assure residents that we won鈥檛 be taking any chances,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淲e have extra crews, we have lookouts and we鈥檒l be able to shut down the fire as soon as we have to.
鈥淲e鈥檒l be taking this in baby steps.鈥�
Aside from the extra manpower, Smith said Parks has spent the last month fire-guarding the area, which includes cutting down trees and installing sprinklers.
鈥淓ssentially we鈥檙e creating a fire curtain around the whole area,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淎nd the great thing about this area is that we鈥檙e already surrounded by water.鈥�
For the burns, Parks will also install a series of artificial lakes, using 15,000-gallon pools called 鈥減umpkins.鈥�
After the burns at the bench, Parks will move on to the 鈥淔iddle Unit,鈥� burning trees in the valley between Highway 16, Fiddle River and the Athabasca River.
鈥淗ere we already have a great water system,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淲e have the highway which acts as a great fireguard and then we have the two rivers.鈥�
In both areas Smith said Parks is hoping the burns will kill about 70 per cent of the trees.
鈥淭he most susceptible pine to mountain pine beetles are the ones that are over 80-years-old, which most of them are around here because we鈥檝e suppressed fire,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e created an unnatural setting and now Mother Nature has resorted to plan b, which is the pine beetle.鈥�
According to Smith, burns allow the forest to recycle its nutrients and create new growth. Naturally most pine trees are recycled every 90 years due to natural elements like forest fires, however, because of human interference within JNP, Mother Nature has been unable to run its course.
鈥淲e鈥檝e created forests that are unhealthy and now we have to live with that,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淭he ecological benefits of a burn are a given.鈥�
Smith also said that Parks will continue prescribed burns in JNP throughout the winter and into the spring.
鈥淲e have an aggressive itinerary planned and whatever we can do in the winter we鈥檒l do and whatever can鈥檛 be done will be pushed to the spring,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淣obody has been able to stop the pine beetle yet, but we鈥檙e remaining optimistic.鈥�
Aside from prescribed burns, Parks鈥� beetle management plan includes other strategies to slow the spread of the beetle, which includes cutting down trees and using harvesting equipment to eliminate larger patches of infected forest.
Kayla Byrne
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