For The Forest

Printed From: http://www.fortheforest.org/page_33

For The Forest

Merritt BC

Merritt, British Columbia: A success story
Through aggressive and coordinated action, the city of Merritt, British Columbia has saved approximately 70 percent of its pines within the community and adjacent forests. Merritt's success is striking because British Columbia sits at the heart of the epidemic.

More than 50,000 square miles of forests have been killed off by the beetle in Western Canada. Yet Merritt has been able to save its pine trees through aggressive removal of infected trees, and stapling small pouches of verbenone, a common organic compound generated by beetles during their mating season, to healthy trees.

A group including For The Forest Executive Director and former Aspen mayor,John Bennett, recently visited Merritt to find out we can do to save the pines, great and small, that grow in Aspen and along its wildland-urban interface (WUI). While no "cure" exists for the mountain pine beetle across vast forest regions, we can work to protect trees in our backyard and the surrounding WUI.

There are many good reasons to take action to save our local pine populations. The most pressing is public safety, which is threatened by the wildfire hazards and falling trees that accompany dead forests. Others include ecological diversity, river health, wildlife habitat, scenic beauty and preserving our economy.

To learn more, download "The Merritt Experience," a concise account of how Merritt saved its forests. Please share this with as many friends as you can.