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What's Eating Canada's Trees?
It begins as a tiny stowaway on a crate from Europe or Asia, a relocated piece of firewood, or just a mild winter. Within decades, millions of hectares of Canada's woodlands have been laid waste because of it. Armies of tiny insects have stripped city boulevards of stately elms and ruined billions of dollars worth of softwood. Since the 1950s, science has fought these invading waves of caterpillars and beetles using everything from DDT to pheromones and bacteria. But victory seems no closer in the fight to save Canada's trees.

	Budworm City		Poison mists		Seeking alternatives to pesticides
	A fleet of spray planes wages war on "the mightiest mites in the Maritimes." (TV; runs 8:51)		For 25 years New Brunswick has drenched its forests in toxic spray. It's not just the budworms that are dying. (Radio; runs 11:49)		Researchers at two Canadian universities are hot on the trail of biological budworm controls. (TV; runs 10:26)

	Ottawa's elms are crashing down		The man who cured the elm		Look out for the looper
	In the shadow of Parliament Hill, stately elms fall victim to Dutch elm disease. (TV; runs 6:07)		A Toronto researcher who recently saw his first elm may have a cure for Dutch elm disease. (TV; runs 8:52)		The hemlock looper: goofy name, voracious appetite. (TV; runs 2:20)

	Trouble at Point Pleasant		B.C. infestation rages out of control		An old enemy returns
	The tiny brown spruce longhorn beetle has shut down one of Halifax's largest parks. (TV; runs 2:07)		An explosion of mountain pine beetles threatens millions of trees in the B.C. interior. (Radio; runs 8:00)		For decades, Winnipeg kept Dutch elm disease at bay. Now it's making a comeback. (TV; runs 2:05)

	Canada's least wanted
	The Asian longhorn beetle and emerald ash borer join the list of unwelcome guests dining on Canada's trees. (TV; runs 3:27)

LINKS Topic from Les Archives de Radio-Canada on the same subject La tordeuse, ravageuse de forêts Related Topics from CBC's Archives At Loggerheads: The Canada-U.S. Softwood Lumber Dispute Clearcutting and Logging: The War of the Woods David Suzuki: Scientist, Activist, Broadcaster Mercury Rising: The Poisoning of Grassy Narrows Red River Rising: Manitoba Floods The Ice Storm of 1998 CBC.ca CBC.ca: Biggest park in Halifax under quarantine CBC.ca: Emerald ash borer beetle attacking Ontario trees External sites Natural Resources Canada: Major forest pests Natural Resources Canada: Forest pest information Government of Alberta: Spruce budworm The American elm and Dutch elm disease An ecological atlas of forest insect defoliation in Canada 1980-1996 The CBC assumes no responsibility for the content of external links.

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