Natural Resources Committee on Oct. 2nd, 2018

[Darlene Upton]

That's going to vary across the landscape in different places, so I can't be very specific. As you can imagine, there would be large areas in Jasper National Park that are not necessarily road accessible, but we have our own helicopter contracts and things like that in order to manage. We're able to bring a variety of tools to bear. The methods we use for managing this do have to take into account accessibility.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

We just talked about some of the measures. What other coordination efforts have you used, thinking outside the box? Has there been any talk about maybe bringing in the private sector or something to remove some of the trees—they could log it or what have you—or anything like that?

[Darlene Upton]

I can speak to P.E.I. in the past on the mechanical harvesting. There are partnerships at times. There will be partnerships with the mechanical harvesting that's going to happen in Jasper. I can't speak to how we're doing it specifically, but the logs that are removed will be sold. The money from that, which is projected to be over $1.5 million, will go directly back into managing mountain pine beetle in Jasper park.

Parks Canada Agency retains its revenue for reinvestment within our programs. Specifically with the mechanical removal that will happen this fall, the proceeds of the sale of that lumber will go to support further efforts in the park. I'm not exactly sure which partners are involved in that.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

You looked like you wanted to jump in.

[Dr. Gilles Seutin]

It's established logging operations. We just put some bounds on the type of equipment that is used and where they can go, so that they don't irreversibly damage some of the land. It's professional companies doing that.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

In terms of obvious jurisdictional boundaries, Parks Canada is managed as a federal property. Obviously, coordination with the provinces is of utmost importance.

[Darlene Upton]

Yes.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

As mentioned here before at the committee, bugs know no boundaries or no borders, so they continue to move across the area.

It was interesting that in the last presentation we had—and I just want to correct and maybe get an idea—I think at the beginning someone talked about some of these species being natural to the environment, whereas the language used in the first presentation was more about their being invasive species and not natural to the area.

Can you clarify that for me so that it's clear in my mind, too?

[Dr. Gilles Seutin]

The pine beetle and the spruce budworm are natural. They're not exotic. They have co-evolved with the forests here and that they are off-cycle or hyperabundant doesn't make them unnatural to the system. I think that's what Darlene tried to say.

On the other hand, you have long-horned beetles or you have the emerald ash borer, which are exotic and, in those cases, from Asia.

When you're the manager of a conservation land where you want to preserve natural ecosystems, the reaction and our policy are different. We just abruptly attack the invasives and we try to manage the natural species in a different way.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

I'm going to have to stop you there, you're just slightly over time.

Mr. Tan, we have about three minutes left.

[Geng Tan, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Okay, I only have three minutes.

We have heard about the species that have invaded our jurisdiction. Can you tell us about one or two invasive species that have been successfully repelled to-date due to our collective efforts? We have so many invasive species and we fight those species every day. Are there any successful examples so far?

[Darlene Upton]

I'm not an expert in this field. In some cases, like with the emerald ash borer, a significant effort goes into managing that species, with results, but I'm not an expert on this.

[Dr. Gilles Seutin]

There has been very important work, through the control of ballast water, that has dramatically reduced the rate of newcomers or undesirable guests in the Great Lakes. It has been quite successful. Unfortunately, it came late, after the invasion of a large number of species there. However, the controls that are now in place have dramatically reduced the rate of invasion. That is one example in which very practical, concrete target measures can work.

In parks last year, due to the threat of a potential invasion by exotic mussels coming from the western United States, we put measures in place to avoid the risk of introducing mussels into Waterton Lakes. Whether it will work in the long term is to be determined, but there are a number of measures that you can put in place.

[Geng Tan, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

You mentioned the concept of the controlled burn. One of the benefits of a controlled burn is to destroy some invasive species within that controlled area, if I am correct. How effective is a controlled burn in destroying and cleaning out that sort of species or do those pests simply move to another area?

[Darlene Upton]

I would say that the first real priority or objective with the controlled burn is really about returning that forest stand to a more natural...the rejuvenation of the forest and bringing it back to an equilibrium, in which you have a proper mixed forest with mixed-age stands. It's really about building the resilience of that forest, first and foremost. I'm not sure if it would succeed, as you suggest, as a way to deal with the insects that are there, at that moment.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

Unfortunately, we're out of time.

Thank you very much, both of you, for joining us today and for your contribution to this very interesting study. We never have enough time. That's the sad part.

The meeting is adjourned.