Mountain Pine Beetle: The Economics of Infestation

(Photo: B.Riel, Natural Resources Canada)

At a time when the Canadian forest industry is consumed with questions of change, including change in wood supply, British Columbia’s forests are being consumed much more literally. Since the mid-1990s, the mountain pine beetle has been swarming the province’s pine forests, leaving behind a wake of dead and dying blue-stained trees.

The impact of this tiny invader is immense. The current epidemic has killed pines across millions of hectares and thrown forest ecosystems out of kilter in the process. And it has unbalanced the fibre supply equation in British Columbia, Canada’s largest producer of wood products, turning the outbreak into a national concern. For the industry as a whole, the infestation is raising sobering questions. Chief among these questions are how to adapt operations today, how to prepare for the long-term consequences, and how to do both while balancing forest health and competitiveness.

The Epidemic

The mountain pine beetle is native to the lodgepole pine forests of western North America and is a periodic source of disturbance in these stands. Normally, forest fires and cold temperatures combine to keep the population low. But in this case, nearly a century of wildfire suppression and recent milder winters have combined to create ideal conditions for the pest. Western forests are full of mature pine, the invader’s preferred host, and the beetle’s mortality rate is low. The result: the largest infestation ever recorded in North America.

Spreading at an alarming rate, by 2005, the epidemic had extended to 8.7 million hectares of British Columbia forest. To date, some 450 million cubic metres of pine have been killed—that is six years’ worth of harvest at pre-infestation levels. Forecasters believe that, by 2013, some 80 percent of the province’s mature pine may be affected.

What’s more, research shows that the beetle’s suitable range is extending to the east and north and to higher altitudes. There are outbreaks in western and southern Alberta, over the border into Saskatchewan, and in several U.S. states (see figure). The epidemic is now threatening different pine species, including the jack pine of the northern boreal forest. Should the beetle take hold there, the infestation could go national.

The pine beetle’s mark on the forest, including ecosystems, habitat, watershed and species mix, is matched by its impact on forest companies and communities. The infestation has prompted British Columbia to raise its AAC (annual allowable cut) so that the industry can salvage wood affected by the beetle. This harvesting boost spells good economic times for industry and communities, and it is partly why western companies, especially in the wood products sector, are weathering current markets better than their eastern counterparts. But the supply boom will be short-lived. Once the salvage is over, the province will be left with damaged forests and some tough challenges—among them an altered industry, a scaled-down workforce, changed communities and a pronounced impact on British Columbia’s economic base.

Reacting Today

The amount of beetle-killed timber in British Columbia is huge and growing. To capture some value before the wood deteriorates entirely, the province has raised the AAC and harvesting has increased. This decision has introduced a number of immediate concerns. High on the list is the question of how to balance current harvest levels with the broader goals of sustainable development, ecological health and non-timber values. Other concerns include how to manage the timber flow, how to modify operations to process salvaged timber and how to market the end products.

Salvaged lodgepole pine with major splits and bluestain (Photo: Courtesy of Paprican, 2005)

For the forest industry, the key to staying healthy and competitive in the near term is to find the best ways of using and marketing this windfall of wood. Beetle-affected timber has characteristics all its own. It is more resinous and permeable than unaffected pine and is checked with cracks and splits. It is also stained blue from the fungus carried by the beetle.

These features are being investigated, with federal funding, by Canada’s three national forestry research institutes—Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada, Forintek Canada Corp., and the Pulp and Paper Research Institute of Canada—to conclude how best to use post-beetle wood. The good news is that structurally, lumber made from this wood meets market standards. This means that much beetle-affected fibre can be used for traditional wood products. Just the same, research projects are underway to develop alternative products using the salvaged wood. Besides the work going on at the institutes, projects are being funded through British Columbia’s Mountain Pine Beetle Action Plan and by Forestry Innovation Investment, a provincial Crown corporation. Here are some of the most promising uses to date.

• Greater permeability may be an advantage for products treated with preservatives and fire retardants, such as decking, siding and termite-proof framing.
• Niche markets may emerge for blue-stained lumber products because of their unusual appearance.
• There is potential for producing glulam, as well as, wood cement and wood plastic composite products.
• The breakage from processing dry lumber will mean more wood available for remanufacturing and components.

Developing beetle-killed wood products is only half of the solution; marketing them is the other. To stay competitive now, and to pave the way for long-term opportunities, the industry needs to maintain its current markets and find new ones for new products. It needs to publicize the facts about the performance, durability and other good characteristics of beetle-affected wood. And it needs to reassure markets about regeneration and future supply in western forests.

Planning for Tomorrow

Canada is just starting to come to terms with the long-range effects of this unprecedented attack. The physical and ecological legacy of both the infestation and the salvage harvesting is clear. But, fortunately, the outbreak, though unprecedented, is part of the natural disturbance cycle in pine forests, and the pine stands will likely recover on their own.

The commercial and social legacy is just as clear. The future shortage of timber in some of Canada’s largest, most abundant forests will have obvious consequences. Estimates vary, but harvesting will likely dip 15 to 25 percent below pre-epidemic levels. Exactly how this reduction will affect western forest operations and communities is difficult to predict, but work is already underway to try to soften and offset the long-term effects.

For forest companies, getting more value from less wood may be the key to staying competitive in the face of future wood shortages. Current research could lead to new engineered wood products, for instance, that carry a higher price tag than lumber. Bioenergy is another promising avenue, one that would enable companies to capture value from degraded pine and the waste wood left over from processing. It may also prove worthwhile to develop new and underused species as substitutes for pine in certain products.

For forest communities, the main concern is stability. This concern underlies the first objective of British Columbia’s Mountain Pine Beetle Action Plan: “Encourage long-term economic sustainability for communities affected by the epidemic.” The province is placing special emphasis on programs for First Nations, as more than 70 bands have traditional territories within the beetle-infested area. First Nations are particularly vulnerable to the disruption of forest ecosystems, which can affect trapping and hunting and can increase the threat of fire near isolated communities. At the federal level, the Canadian Forest Service is looking at ways to diversify the economy of communities at risk. As well, the Mountain Pine Beetle Initiative offers programs for First Nations on beetle control, forest rehabilitation and reducing fuel loads on reserves.

For industry and communities alike, long-term planning is the key to meeting this unprecedented infestation head on. For both groups, a successful future depends on diversification. The mountain pine beetle outbreak in British Columbia is without question extensive and destructive, but from this destruction may come new growth.