As far as forest protection is concerned, there is an existing organic spray program that helps slow the progression of the epidemic and gives us enough time to harvest those stands.
As far as federal government intervention is concerned, it would be great if it participated in the recovery, either by providing aid for the recovery of merchantable timber that can be sent to plants that are able to mill them, or by providing inventory support—because this will generate massive inventory—and infrastructure support for the new industries.
Lastly, this could be an opportunity to diversify the economy of the affected communities given that the spruce budworm epidemic is recurring. Spruce budworm is detected in our regions every 40 or 50 years. We should convert this into an opportunity to diversify the economy of many of the municipalities that very much depend on the forestry and wood processing. That would be a great way for the government to get involved and it would be greatly appreciated.