Representatives from the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development were at Monday’s regular council meeting with a report on spruce beetles.
The data shows the population for the potentially disastrous beetle has been steadily increasing since 2014 north of Prince George.
District Manager for PG, John Huybers, says they aren’t hitting the panic button yet.
“We’re still hopeful that the population will decrease but at the same time we’ve watched four years of unprecedented growth and that’s why we’re going out to community groups like city council and really speaking with the forest industry on this; potentially there’s an issue here.”
He says they are working on a solution.
“The forest industry in Prince George is very world-renowned for its technology and I think they’re showing that in this as well,” Huybers explains.
“We have an action group created between industry and government and looking at how to get into these areas.”
One of the biggest challenges for this issue, Huybers says, is the remoteness.
An outbreak of spruce beetles was declared in 2015.
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