Pine beetle putting economy in danger
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Clearwater is the most at-risk community in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District as a result of the mountain pine beetle epidemic.
That’s according to a presentation by the Southern Interior Beetle Action Committee (SIBAC) to TNRD directors during their board meeting on Thursday, Sept. 17.
Barriere is in third spot in the reginal district, behind Clearwater and Chase.
Forests in the North Thompson have not been directly impacted as heavily as some in other areas of the province, commented Clearwater Mayor John Harwood. However, the local logging industry has been all but shut down at times because stumpage rates for beetle damaged wood have been set so low that it’s been cheaper for forest companies to get their wood elsewhere.
“We have some beetle but we have some good wood as well,” he said.
Although the presentation contained bad news, the mayor felt it could have a positive effect if its findings result in more assistance coming to the area.
He said he has asked staff to go through the SIBAC findings to extract information that could help the community get additional grants.
Harwood also asked that the information in the presentation be forwarded to MLA Terry Lake and M.P. Cathy MacLeod.
One issue for the future is what will happen when all the pine beetle wood salvage is over and sawmills
elsewhere want to get wood from the valley.
“It’s always been a concern here when wood leaves this area,” said Harwood. “It’s not a green province if wood is shipped 500 km to be processed … I think this is something the cabinet will have to reconsider.”
As well as being the most at-risk community in the TNRD, Clearwater is ranked at number five among the 13 most-at-risk communities due to pine beetle attack in the Southern Interior.
Only Grand Forks, Greenwood, Canal Flats and Midway rank higher.
Chase is number six on the beetle’s hit parade across the Southern Interior, followed by Barriere in the seventh position.
According to the SIBAC presentation, Clearwater and Barriere are tied for first place as the most forest-dependent communities in the Southern Interior.
Residents of the two North Thompson Valley communities both derive 30 per cent of their income from the forest.
That helps give Clearwater and Barriere the two highest forest vulnerability indices in the Southern Interior.
The only remaining major sawmill in the North Thompson Valley, Canfor-Vavenby, shut down indefinitely last summer due to market conditions.
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