In the ongoing fight against the mountain pine beetle, Alberta forestry companies and other stake holders are facing a cash crunch that threatens to linger indefinitely, thanks to the Canada/U.S. soft wood lumber agreement.
During a conference of the Alberta Forest Products Association (AFPA) last Friday, the Minister for Sustainable Resource Development (SRD), Ted Morton, reiterated the government's commitment to fighting infestation by the tiny insects.
However, funds to combat the infestation have not been increased this year, and although forestry companies have asked for more, an "anti-circumvention" clause in the Canada/U.S. softwood lumber agreement is having the effect of slowing down negotiations.
Parker Hogan, public affairs director for AFPA, a non-profit industry association that represents several Alberta forestry companies, says the "beetle buffet" has increased the normal operating costs of companies in the AFPA.
"We've been directed by the government of Alberta to change our harvesting plans," says Hogan. "Money invested in the long-term harvesting plans are basically thrown out of the window…we now need to do draw up a new plan based on new harvesting parameters." The clause in the softwood lumber agreement prevents Canadian governments from providing assistance or grants directly to the forest industry that would counteract the effects of the softwood lumber export taxes.
"They (the US) see it as a subsidy contravening the soft-wood lumber agreement," says Hogan.
Because of this, any program undertaken related to the forestry sector by the government will be closely scrutinized by the U.S. However, there may be a loophole: programs designed to protect the environmental health of the forest are not considered to circumvent the agreement.
"Any program the government would look to initiate for mountain pine beetle control would have to run through legal tests to ensure it meets the standard of "protecting the environmental health of the forest" rather than assistance, grant or subsidy to the forest industry," says Hogan.
The good news is that because of Alberta's aggressive program to date, newly infested trees are down to about 300,000. However, the beetle is now spreading to south-west Alberta into Kananaskis country west of Calgary, and from the Crowsnest Pass region into southern Alberta.
SRD spokesperson Duncan MacDonnell says that although pine beetles have existed in Alberta since the 1940s, they weren't a major threat to the province's forests. However, that situation began to change some eight years ago when B.C.'s infestation escalated.
Then last July, Alberta jumped from having about 20,000 infested trees to more than three million, thanks to the "beetle rain" that was carried 400 kilometres by strong westerly winds from northeastern B.C. to northwestern Alberta.
"One of the principle reasons we have this infestation challenge is because we have an over abundance of trees that beetles prefer," says MacDonnell, adding that 60 per cent of Alberta's trees are 80 to 120 years old which makes them beetle magnets.
Hogan and MacDonnell say Alberta has significant knowledge to deal with pine beetle infestation because of the lessons learned from B.C. "The provinces are working closely so as not to re-invent the wheel," says Hogan.
To date, B.C. has lost 9.2 hectares of pine forest to beetle infestation.
Forestry is Alberta's third largest industry, generating $3.8 billion in revenue and providing 48,000 jobs. According to a government website, up to six million hectares of lodgepole and jack pine forests in Alberta are now at risk.
This year's budget to combat beetle infestation is $5.2 million, with an additional $50 million in emergency funds. The allotted funding mostly pays for ministry crews to do survey, cut and burn and control work. But there needs to be money for "frontline activities," says Hogan.
"We can go back to the emergency fund and request more money and that may well happen because we're still battling the beetle," says MacDonnell, adding that Alberta's request for $150 million in assistance from Ottawa hasn't been granted.
Hogan insists that companies are not asking the government for a hand-out; instead, they merely want to recover the costs involved in re-adjusting their plans that include a range of infra-structure activities such as building roads and bridges, hiring contractors, and dealing with shorter storage periods for infested lumber.
"We're still trying to figure out what mitigated costs our member companies can receive from the government of Alberta to help pay for those additional costs. Our hands are tied because of the soft-wood lumber agreement with the U.S…it's a dicey, tricky situation," says Hogan.
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