Urban Forest Management

Mountain Pine Beetles

The City’s 2008 winter program to remove mountain pine beetle-infested trees and carry out forestry work to reduce the threat of forest fires to the City is underway. This winter’s program will be larger in scale than previous years with priority areas identified for tree removal based on the City’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan. The program was planned with major consideration given to reducing forest fire danger and the hazards of dead trees to the public.

City of Prince George staff and contractors will use state of the art, low impact small-scale salvage techniques to carefully remove trees. Winter forestry operations avoid bird nesting season and fire hazards in urban areas from piles of tree debris during tree removal. Snow and frozen ground provide some measure of protection from undue equipment damage to the soil and smaller plant communities. Logs will be processed in local sawmills and debris will be processed or removed from site.

Maps showing the planned work areas under each of the three programs will be posted on the City’s website. Residents living next to areas planned for work will receive an information package. Residents are reminded that each park is closed during beetle control operations. Residents are asked to avoid these locations when crews are working, as unseen safety hazards exist. ForesTree Fest events for replanting trees where trees have been removed will be announced in the spring.

For residents with beetle-killed or infested trees on their property, the second year of the City of Prince George and Service Canada pine beetle tree debris removal assistance project is operating and ready to help. This assistance program is available until July 11, 2008.

Residents interested in the free tree debris removal service are asked to contact IFS at 564-4115 local 237 for information and to be put on the service schedule. At present, wait times are less than one week for service.

Assistance to private residence land involves the debris removal crews removing fences prior to beetle trees being removed by professional companies, which are hired and paid for by the residents. After the tree removals, debris removal crews return to clean up tree debris and re-install fences. This assistance is free and reduces overall costs to remove beetle-killed trees for residents.

Backgrounder

Program Components

There will be four main programs this year to reduce the threat of forest fire hazard to the City:

The residential assistance program tree removal program will help residents by reducing costs of tree removal on private land, and reduce the fire hazard associated with the dead trees and tree debris on private land in the City.
The City beetle tree removal program will continue to remove dead pine trees from City land in the parks, greenbelts and boulevards throughout the City using forest fire and public safety as the priority for removals.
The areas ranked as high and very high fire hazard in the community wildfire protection plan will have treatments to reduce the fire hazard, including removing dead pine, removing other tree species, pruning, brushing, and thinning. The details of work for each site to reduce fire hazard is set out in the individual fire fuel treatment prescriptions by site.
Larger cutblocks to create fuel breaks in areas of the City’s new community forest, crown land areas within the City, in the more outlying areas that require larger cuts and treatments for wildfire protection to the City.

The forests around Prince George are now very much showing the devastation of the mountain pine beetle. This past hot dry summer conditions were a reminder of the obvious elevated risk of wildfire to the City. Although there has been years of beetle tree removal and fire fuel reduction work completed, there is much more work to be done in order to reduce the risk of forest fire to the City. The City’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan was completed last winter, and this winter the programs to reduce fire fuels in the areas ranked high and very high hazard will be completed.

The 2005-2006 winter beetle tree removal program removed approximately 107 logging truck loads of trees, the 2004- 2005 winter program removed approximately 220 truckloads of logs of trees.

Background (Frequently Asked Questions)

Why is the City removing trees?

This winter provides a window of opportunity to remove the beetle infested trees and minimize damage to ground vegetation. Some of the trees being removed have died and turned red, making their removal a priority. There is a heightened fire hazard associated with dense patches of pine whose needles have already turned red. The tree will go through several more stages before becoming an overhead hazard, which could take several years. Generally, this stage is referred to as gray-attack, as the needles have all fallen off. The goal of this winter's beetle program is to remove the beetle infested trees from City land in areas next to residential property and in high-traffic playgrounds. The goal is to reduce the urban fire hazard associated with red-attack pine trees, and remove the future issue of dead trees falling.

Why are green trees being removed?

When beetles fly and infest trees in the summer, the trees generally stay green for one year until the following summer. This stage is referred to as green-attack. These green trees are infested with beetles and will usually die and turn red by the following summer when the beetles emerge to fly again. Each beetle infested tree contains enough beetle larvae to infest between 3 and 8 green trees when they fly the next summer.

Why did the City remove all the trees in the park? Some of the trees were not infested.

The beetle tree removal is being completed under the supervision of a Registered Professional Forester, and monitored by a Certified Arborist who assess and monitor each site in the field before and during the removal. These assessments take place at each site both after the beetle infested trees are marked, and again after the infested trees are removed. If the remaining trees are not wind firm, they are removed at the same time in order to prevent any accidents or damage. Removing large numbers of infested trees exposes other trees on the site to winds that, when taking the full force, they may not be able to withstand. The City has a legal responsibility to leave a site safe after tree removal operations. In natural areas which do not pose a threat to people, trees that are marginally windfirm will be left standing. Sites within reach of residential property, power lines, schoolyards, play equipment or other facilities are carefully assessed for wind firmness and then trees at risk are removed. The wind firmness assessment is important to prevent damage to people and property during windstorms.

There are quite a few red trees on City land, why did the City not remove those trees?

There are several reasons why red trees are not removed from City land and it is important to note that each site is assessed prior to tree removals.

Nature Parks, Natural Areas: Because of the level of infestation, in naturalized areas not all infested trees will be removed. In these areas trees are removed next to residences, up to two tree lengths into the City land, to reduce the fire fuel potential and create a firebreak to protect neighbouring residences.
Slope Stability: Trees are not removed from slopes that are assessed to be unstable.
Stream or Lake Areas: If the site is within a riparian area (near a stream or lake), trees are not removed in the buffer zone required by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the BC Ministry of Environment.

Is the City is making money on logging trees within the City?

The beetle program is removing a number of trees within the City, however, the trees are small and of low commercial value. The added cost to clean up the debris and restore the site is very high. There is a net cost to the taxpayer for the removal program per tree, depending on each site. The City employs specialised salvage logging equipment, which is smaller than standard logging equipment and more expensive to operate, but this type of operation does the least damage to the ground vegetation and remaining trees on the site.

Any revenue received from the sale of the harvested trees to local sawmills is used to reduce the cost of the beetle program. There is no profit. The beetle program is a cost to the City taxpayer, however every effort is made to remove trees before their value decreases.

The contract for this work is awarded through a competitive bid process. The contract is awarded to the company that shows it can do the best job for the lowest price. This year, the work is again being carried out by TDB Forestry Consultants.

Is the City hiring people for clean up? I’ve seen IFS work crews on some sites.

The City is involved with Service Canada (formerly Human Resources and Skills Development Canada) in a program to provide work experience to qualified applicants to complete beetle clean up. Hiring takes place through local approved employment agencies, which are provided with information as it becomes available.

The park in my neighborhood has been logged by the beetle crew, what is the plan to restore the park?

Parks that have significant removal will have restoration plans completed over the next year. Some restorations may include replanting while others may be more extensive. Park planning will include consultation with the community and neighbouring residents. Monitor the media this spring for your chance to be involved.

The City uses small-scale salvage logging equipment, and removes trees in the winter to reduce the damage to each site. This helps to protect ground vegetation and remaining trees so that the sites recover naturally as quickly as possible. Replanting will follow in many areas.

What is the plan for the park in my neighborhood? How do I get more information?

Residents who live next to City land that has trees removed will receive notice delivered to their residence that provides detailed information on the beetle program and the work planned for the land adjacent to their property. Information on the tree removal program, which parks are targeted, the number of trees to be removed and the tentative schedule of removals is posted on the City’s website. Watch and listen to local media for announcements.

How much of the forest will we lose in the City?

The City is fortunate to have a very diverse urban forest with only 16% of the forest consisting of pure pine stands. Another 29% of the forest has some pine, and the amount required for removal will depend on the level of infestation experienced. Prince George is in the centre of the largest mountain pine beetle outbreak in BC's history. The pine forests in and around the City have a large population of beetles after this past summer's flight. The 2006 beetle flight will most likely infest much of the pine that was not infested in 2005.

List of beetle infested trees by site.

Some numbers are estimates acquired by “walkthroughs” by certified beetle probe crews, others are actual counts of infested trees by site. Each site has an accurate count completed prior to removal.

2006 Pine Tree Removal, City Site Specific Information and Maps, Removal and Restoration, TDB Contacts

More information is available on the 2006 Pine Tree Removal page.