Asian long-horned spruce beetle found in Hants County

BY FRED LAWRENCE

The Hants Journal

NovaNewsNow.com

The news is a woodlot owner’s worst nightmare. Those in the industry are fearful of registered letters sent by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) indicating certain properties on the Mines Road in Upper Falmouth and others lots in Leminster, Hants Co. have been placed under quarantine due to the discovery of the Asian long-horned spruce beetle.

In the letter, CFIA states a “Notice of Prohibition of Movement” has been placed on some woodlots believed to contain the spruce longhorn beetle (Tetropium fucum).

As a result of the letter, woodlot owners are prohibited from removing spruce logs or wood, bark or chips from the property unless authorized in writing by the CFIA.

The letter states a survey conducted by the CFIA and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) indicated that the beetle discovered initially in Point Pleasant Park is now believed to be on or in the vicinity of many woodlots in the area. The beetle has been designated as posing a “serious risk” to the entire forests of North America.

Came as a surprise

Larry Eldridge owns a woodlot on the Mines Road and said the letter came as a surprise. He’s concerned about potential loss of valuable wood for other owners who are in the business of cutting and selling logs.

“They’ll never stop the beetle from spreading across the province,” Eldridge said. “It’s going to hurt loggers and people who rely on cutting for income.”

Faith in the government’s ability to control the pest is slim, he said. “The CFIA can’t get rid of it because they just don’t have the common sense to do that. They do tell us they can contain it, but we knew from day one they can’t stop this infestation. It’s the same as coyotes; they’re here to stay.”

Colin Hughes owns a large trucking and cutting operation in the New Ross area and said the problem will cause a lot of headaches for small woodlot owners. Hughes is concerned independent owners will lose control over what they can do on their own land.

“It’s going to take away much of our freedom because we can no longer cut as we wish and that’s where we’re running into problems.”

Hughes said all is not lost, but noted a lot more red tape will be required before spruce logs are going anywhere from ‘infected’ lots.

“There are ways around everything,” he said. “You can still cut and sell spruce logs or stud wood, but you’ll need a permit and a trucking permit and it has to go to a certified mill to be handled properly. It’s not a shutdown, but it has caused people to hit the panic button.”

Hughes said in European countries such problems don’t occur anymore because they manage forests differently than in Nova Scotia.

“In Scandinavia, they don’t have these problems because they manage all of the woodlots and at the end of the day they have a lot more return value.”

In Nova Scotia, Hughes said misinformation on mature trees is a major problem leading to infestation from voracious bugs. “We’ve always had bugs and they go after the mature and dying trees, but trees grow much like humans; some mature at 100 years and some only grow for 20. We’re going to war against this beetle and what would you sooner have; an army of 20-year-olds, or an army of 80-year-olds. It’s that simple.”

Quarantine area extended

The area of quarantine was extended inland last spring to include parts of Leminster and areas on the Halifax side of Highway 102. The beetle, Hughes said, made a jump from Halifax Co. to the Windsor area in one year; “that’s quite a jump.”

Jim Bremner has been in the forestry business for many years and said he has been working within the quarantine zone near Stillwater. “The bugs are here, but local woodlot owners can still cut so long as the wood is inspected and the necessary permit is issued from the Canadian Health inspection Agency.

“The wood has to go to a designated mill that has been certified by CFIA to deal with beetle-infested logs. It’s going to change things a bit, but there’s not much anyone can do about it – they’re here to stay.

“The worst thing people can do is panic. This move by CFIA, I suspect, is just a preventative measure until they can properly define the areas where the quarantine zone needs to be expanded.”



Beetle facts:

The spruce longhorn beetle was first discovered in Point Pleasant Park in 1999 from wood packaging materials shipped from overseas. Other than Nova Scotia, the insect is not known to exist anywhere else in North America.

BSLB usually attack dying, stressed trees, but during an outbreak will move to healthy coniferous and deciduous trees.

Signs that the spruce longhorn beetle has attacked a tree are:

* Oval or round holes in trees often leaving excessive resin weeping.

* Networks of tunnels filled with sawdust-like material located below the bark.

* Coarse sawdust found in and around tunnels in wood or plugging the holes in the bark.