Red-Green
No,
this is not a report on the popular television series
with Steve Smith but of the colourful contrast of healthy green
indigenous conifers and pines killed by the illustrious pine beetle. A
few days ago, I was sipping hot chocolate and swapping old stories
with a good friend of mine on the Barnhardt farm. Afterward, Melvin
took me out to show me his latest winter project which consisted of
cutting, liming and burning the beetle-killed pines on his property. 
The pines had been planted and lovingly nurtured by the former owners of his farmstead, Nick and Mary Poohkay. I understand that Mary had won an award for her green thumb and gardening diligence. Sadly, all of her work has now been destroyed by these pesky little bark burrowers, and my friend Melvin has a pile of pine firewood for next season.
Now I asked myself, “How on God’s green earth did those little monsters get this far from the mother lode of pine forests in the mountains?” That seems like a long way to fly even for a song bird. How would they store enough energy to go scouting about the northern boreal forest in hopes of finding an unsuspecting pine?
Parks Canada explains that decades of fire suppression and climatic warming trends have helped beetle populations grow from endemic to epidemic proportions. Of course, those lucky boys and girls who work outside at -40˚ below might question the bit about warming trends. At any rate, the little rascals are on the move.
Parks Canada also tells us that the beetles have been known to fly several kilometers during their spring flight to new trees. If caught by the wind, however, beetles may travel over a hundred kilometers! So, here we are in spruce and poplar country feeling creeped out at the thought of migrating pine beetles looking for food. If you have a nice pine hedge along your property or have dutifully planted some beautiful pines for Christmases to come, beware, they’re here!
The way to tell if they have arrived is to look for small boreholes in the bark. These boreholes compromise the integrity of the bark and soon the life blood (sap) of the tree comes oozing out. See the attached photo from the Barnhardt farm. These little fellows just love the taste of Lodgepole, Ponderosa and Western White Pine. They don’t seem to have an appetite for anything else in the forest up here and that is indeed good news. You might hope you are upwind of an established pine forest, but then this is Alberta with prevailing winds from the west, sorry about that.
Feeling sorry for the lone, trepidatious pine in my own front yard, I began to search around for some way to protect the little fellow. On the internet I discovered that a deterrent is available in the form of Verbenone which is actually a natural organic compound. This compound works by fooling the beetle into believing that the tree is already beetle-claimed and over-crowded and gives the signal to shove off and find your own tree. Verbenone is produced by Contech Inc., a Victoria, BC company and is made available in the Peace Country through a number of outlets including Canadian Tire, Home Hardware, True Value and probably others.
So, here’s to the pines that are left standing, alone and scared. Pray for an east wind and hope for a friendly human to come by and attach a Verbenone pouch to your trunk. Red Green would duct tape it on! Oh, and one final thought. With pine stocks dwindling will IKEA be in the market for our Canadian white poplar? That could be good.
Douglas W. Greenfield