Natural Resources committee  This is an issue of terminology. The terminology we've been using to describe the mountain pine beetle is “native invasive”. Although it's native to B.C., the forests that it's in now—in Alberta—don't have that history with the beetle, so it is behaving a bit like an invasive spe

Natural Resources committee  Generally speaking—certainly in the forestry sector—shipping and moving wood with the bark on is regulated. If you've crossed a provincial boundary in western Canada, I'm sure you've seen the signs that say not to bring firewood back into Alberta, or into B.C. There certainly are

Natural Resources committee  The direct output of the scientific research will be in the form of scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals. That's the primary output. Of course, there are also a number of reports and other documents that are provided to different agencies, be they governments or our indust

Natural Resources committee  It would be sustained temperature. We need fairly long stretches of -35°C or -40°C.

Natural Resources committee  It would be several days to weeks.

Natural Resources committee  On the current climate suitability forecast for mountain pine beetle, there are a number of different models that have been developed to look at exactly this question. All of them basically suggest that in all of these areas, as we move into eastern Alberta and into Saskatchewan,

Natural Resources committee  It would be the fire. I would just clarify, though, that typically prescribed burns, to use that terminology, is a method of indirect control that is really geared at making the landscape less susceptible to the beetles. It's a more proactive approach as opposed to the reactive a

Natural Resources committee  I would agree with that, yes.

Natural Resources committee  The best way, as I've outlined here, is to maintain this zoned approach where we really focus on suppression along the leading edge where the densities are low and where we know we're having a measurable impact. Then, in the areas that are already heavily inundated with beetles,

Natural Resources committee  They use a combination of methods. Once they have identified trees that have been attacked, they'll cut them, they'll burn them, or they'll strip the bark and burn that. They also use a combination of insecticides in order to control the beetle. Those insecticides are applied to

Natural Resources committee  They're manufactured insecticides, and they are effective at killing the beetle.

Natural Resources committee  I don't have the information for that at this time. I do know that we've been cutting the trees and then burning the wood as the control measure.

Natural Resources committee  That red line is, as of 2012, the leading edge for the beetle. As I mentioned, it has shifted a bit further east, but it looks similar to what you see on the map.

Natural Resources committee  At the moment, it does seem to be slowing down. We definitely have slowed it, certainly since 2001. We've definitely seen a fairly steep decrease in the spread rates heading east as those beetles move through this section along the leading edge. There are also lower pine volumes,

Natural Resources committee  In part it's because we can have a measurable impact, certainly along that leading edge. We can and we have been slowing the spread of the beetle eastward.