There was no popcorn, but Columbia Shuswap Regional District directors learned a great deal about a tiny critter that has caused a host of problems from a film on the subject.

Electoral Are E Rural Sicamous director Rhona Martin, the regional district’s representative to the Southern Interior Beetle Action Coalition (SIBAC), brought board members up to speed on the effects of the pine beetle and a made a request for $5,000.

The main purpose of SIBAC is to provide a local perspective on the impacts of the pine beetle and prepare a regional mitigation plan with recommendations for provincial and federal governments.

In one tribal forest area, the beetle kill went from two per cent to 80 per cent in two years.

“In a decade, 50 per cent of the mills in this area could be closed because of the impacts of the pine beetle,” Martin said, noting the devastating effect the infestation has already had on forestry jobs..

And look for an increased risk of wildfires, possible weed infestation due to soil erosion and an increasing gap between economically healthy communities and those that are struggling.

A SIBAC study also revealed some of the other effects of the beetle kill: increased flooding, diminished water quality and changes to the ecosystem due to salvage and increased harvesting.

Directors watched and listened to a tribal forest official crunch his way loudly across a whitened pile of tinder-dry beetle-killed trees that had been living only two years earlier.

As well as the need for understanding the impact of the infestation on forest values such as culture, heritage, wildlife and esthetics, the study outlined the need for funds for reforestation projects and bioenergy opportunities – such as using the wood to make pellets for wood stoves.

As well as the challenges in marketing beetle-killed wood, Martin pointed out that the government needs to address the issue of beetle-killed trees (wildfire fuels) on Crown lands and reforestation on private lands.

Martin says in order to support small communities and First Nations priorities, the province needs to amend stumpage fees so that beetle killed wood for fuel pellets is, free or charged a lower rate than healthy timber.

SIBAC’s recommendations regarding forest practices, economic, safety and government revenues include creation of wildfire reduction unit crews, getting the most out of the each timber stand and new revenue sharing with local governments and First Nations.

“We need money to develop cutting-edge technology to make the most out of each cut,” said Martin, noting the waste goes into fuel pellets but SIBAC is having issues sourcing the dead wood. “We want the government to give us money for fuels management. We have the method but not the money.”

Created with $800,000 in provincial government funding and $5,000 from each of SIBAC’s nine regional districts, six tribal councils and Community Futures Development Corporation of the Central Interior First Nations, the coalition covers 11 timber supply areas with a population of about 630,000 residents.

Each member is being asked to contribute another $5,000, something the CSRD board agreed to unanimously at last week’s meeting.