Jasper National Park no shows at Mountain Pine Bettle seminar

Dear Editor:

This past week, I attended a mountain pine beetle (MPB) seminar in Jasper. The place was filled with scientists and forest health practitioners from across Canada, and especially from western Canada.

Also, attending were elected council members from Edson, Hinton and Yellowhead County. The notable and glaring absence at the event was anyone who had anything to do with Jasper National Park (JNP).

As many people know, the MPB has crossed the Rockies and is attacking stands of pine around Jasper and in neighbouring communities including Edson and Hinton.

At the event, much was learned about what needs to occur. We were also exposed to an outstanding critique of the failures on the part of Jasper National Park to deal with the issue.

Attendees learned that Banff National Park (BNP) had a similar MPB problem more than a decade ago, when beetles were spreading outside of the park onto provincial and private land, thereby threatening neighbouring communities.

The Park acting in cooperation with the federal government, was able to conduct aggressive control treatments along the leading edge of the infestation, thereby adopting what was dubbed a “good neighbour policy”.

Attendees also learned from the many scientific experts that prescribed burning is not considered an effective control technique for the pests, especially in the midst of an infestation. Yet this is the approach primarily used by Jasper National Park.

We learned that prescribed burning over time can change the tree species composition of a forest, without actually controlling MPB infestations.

The final thing we learned at the event is that Jasper National Park may well be basing its MPB management program on faulty science.

The Jasper Park has also claimed that the MPB infestation in the Hinton Area was coming mostly from the Grande Prairie region, rather than Jasper National Park. This allegation was strongly refuted by professionals at the seminar.

After attending the event, there is no doubt that many who were there began to ask questions.

First, why did two different national parks respond so differently to the same problem; and second, why did the Banff Park possess and implement a good neighbour policy while the Jasper Park doesn’t even show up at a major event where professionals and elected officials were discussing, amongst other things, the impact and cost of the Jasper Park’s policies on surrounding communities?

Stuart Taylor, Member of Hinton Town Council