A study more than two years in the making is about to be sent to the province about the overall effects of the mountain pine beetle. And both Canal Flats and Radium Hot Springs have been put on the list of at-risk communities.

The actions and studies that were conducted by the Sounthern Interior Mountain Beetle Coalition and were presented to the Canal Flats Council last week by Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) Area C director Rob Gay. They covered the East and West Kootenays as well as the Okanagan and grouped communities according to a variety of factors. These included a forest trend analysis, broken down by timber supply; socio-economic analysis, based on the 2006 census; and the environmental impact that the beetle had in the area.

At risk communities were ones that had a few specific characteristics. One was the per- cent of pine in their area and the estimated drop in short- to mid-term timber supply. They considered that the timber industry has been condensing into fewer and smaller mills but accepted that the pine beetle was only one of the factors involved in this. Also considered were the economic dependency of the community in terms of income, employment and municipal tax base, and the likelihood of the community to adjust to negative forest sector impacts based on the size, rate of economic growth and economic diversity.

“The one recommendation we made to government amongst about 22 others around those communities at risk is that the provincial government provide implementation to the mountain pine beetle at risk communities and tribal councils,” said Gay who added that there was also a suggestion to hire an economic development officer (or additional resources, at least) for each at-risk community.

“Some of the recommendations are not new, some do not require a lot of money,” he said. “We would like to see a rural plan. It’s a population thing. We need to pay attention to rural British Columbia.”

Gay added that the economy has shown some signs of life but there is still a need to support communities.

“Lumber prices are better than they have been…but for some it’s still week to week,” he explained.

After making his presentation, Gay responded to questions about the beetle including a concern that the pest may be able to jump species and affect other types of vegetation. He said that this is very rare and not something to worry about in the near future.

As for ways that government could approach the situation, he said that finding money to help out communities is a good start but he also pointed to a simple change in points of view. He referred to a “futures game” that sets up scenarios that offer a perspective through time of today’s choices. “Sometimes the easy decisions we make now are not going to look good in the future,” he said.

He asked asked councils to submit future plans for their communities to attach to the study that will be sent to the province.