Ottawa buys into fight against pine beetle
Dr. John Borden or PheroTech Inc.
The federal government will spend $100 million to fight the mountain pine beetle epidemic in British Columbia, which the provincial government says threatens the future of the forestry industry in both B.C. and Alberta.
"It's threatening to cross provincial boundaries," federal Industry Minister David Emerson said late last week, calling the budget bill tabled in the House of Commons "as a downpayment, if you like, to get started on federal participation in helping the province solve this problem.
The federal government was under pressure from B.C. to act. Read rest of article here >>
John H. Borden, Professor
INSECT CHEMICAL ECOLOGY, FOREST PEST MANAGEMENT
B.Sc. Washington State University
M.Sc., Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley,
B.C.E., R.P. Bio., R.P.F., F.R.S.C.
Dr. John H. Borden was awarded the 2000 Western Forest Insect Work Conference (WFIWC) Founders' Award - More >>
Mountain Pine Beetle, Verbenone Project
In an attempt to prevent pine beetles from attacking healthy pine trees, the City of Prince George, in partnership with UNBC will be conducting a research trial using the anti-aggregation pheromone Verbenone. The aim of the project is to engage residents with remaining healthy pine trees on their property to help stem the devastation caused by the mountain pine beetle infestation. This year's flight is expected to be the largest flight into Prince George to date. While many of the City's pine trees have been attacked and killed there is some potential to protect those that remain unaffected. Mountain pine beetles utilize chemical messages, called pheromones to communicate attack sites to other beetles. Similarly, as beetle densities build up within a stand, a repellant pheromone is released to send the message that the stand has no more potential attack sites. It is the goal of the project to utilize this pheromone in an attempt to reduce the number of trees that are attacked during this year?s beetle flight and retain some residential pine trees and some of the city's pine trees. Although Verbenone has not yet been licensed in Canada, it is registered for use and sale in the United States for the control of the southern pine beetle, Dentroctonus frontalis. Under the new Integrated Pest Management Act for BC that came into force in 2005, and under Federal legislation, City staff working with the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, Integrated Pest Management Unit, determined that an opportunity exists for the City of Prince George to conduct a research project using Verbanone within the City. Verbenone is applied by stapling a few small plastic bubble packets about 10 feet up in the trees. The packets give off the pheromone “smell” for approximately 50-60 days. The synthesized pheromone is an organic compound. The US EPA lists Verbenone with no expected risks to humans or the environment. A research trial in Canada permits a limited amount of Verbenone to be used on a per-hectare basis. Phero Tech, Inc. based in Delta, BC, will be supplying the product to the City and is experienced in conducting research trials using Verbenone in the control of mountain pine beetle and the Southern pine beetle. The project will be run on a cost-recovery basis to private property owners with pine trees that meet the project and product specifications. The cost to property owners will be minimal, and will be used to offset the purchase of the product by the City. This is a research trial to test the product under extreme beetle flight conditions, there is no guarantee any form of beetle proofing or tree protection will work under these conditions.Swiss cheese smell stops pine beetle attacks
A smelly pouch of eau de Swiss cheese could save small stands of timber from the Mountain Pine Beetle, according to scientists. Researchers from Phero Tech of Delta, B.C., have been developing a scent called Verbenone to drive pine beetles away. Mountain Pine Beetle destroyed equivalent of 2 million houses in B.C. interior, according to provincial officials "There's a chemical signal they can detect which says: 'This is the wrong host, keep going,'" said John Borden, the company's research director. Borden is a professor emeritus from Simon Fraser University. He says the scent mimics one beetles produce themselves after they've over-infested a tree. "They use it so they're not living in an overpopulated slum," he said. The pouch is attached to pine trees with an industrial-strength stapler. Besides Swiss cheese, the chemicals in Verbanone also mimic the scent of aspen and birch. The mountain pine beetle shuns those trees. The ingenious pouch doesn't kill the beetles; it diverts them.Other useful resources
Bugbusters Pest Management - Professional foresters specializing in Forest Health Vegetation Management and Silviculture based in Prince George, British Columbia