Mountain Pine Beetle: Public safety plays second fiddle in Jasper

A letter published in one of the local papers expressed concern that Parks Canada is failing to diligently apply established management techniques in order to keep Jasper town’s inhabitants safe. Quite rightly, this letter referenced a number of regulatory matters that certainly give Parks Canada the ability, the responsibility, and the authority, to ensure that the Jasper townsite is safe.

In 2017, I expressed similar concerns. I attended a mountain pine beetle seminar in Jasper where I met scientists and forest health practitioners from across the country, and especially western Canada. I was stunned by the absence of anyone who had anything to do with Jasper National Park. Later that year, I attended Jasper’s 150th anniversary canoe event which attracted many Park employees. I wondered how it was possible for them to participate in a canoe event yet not have a single person attending the Pine Beetle meeting.

During the mountain pine beetle seminar, I learned much about the lack of performance at Jasper to deal with the Pine Beetle issue, including:

That other national parks in cooperation with the federal government and local communities, were able to conduct aggressive control treatments along the leading edge of the infestation;

I also learned from the many experts to whom I spoke that prescribed burning is not considered an effective control technique, especially in the midst of an infestation. Yet this is the exact approach that is generally and primarily being undertaken by Jasper National Park. I also learned that prescribed burning over time, can alter the species composition without controlling MPB infestations.

More recently, I have been told that the control work at Jasper has been deliberately limited due to sensitive soils in some areas, such as Pyramid Bench. Apparently, the administration at Jasper has decided that the remote possibility of damage to ground soils is a higher priority than the town of Jasper’s safety.

I was recently in a situation where I was subject to the fire ban in Jasper. I was at the Wapiti campground. I sat there choking on the smoke of the camp fires, literally surrounded by dead beetle killed trees. What kind of responsible park administration allows fires in a campground that is surrounded by dead trees in a higher fire hazard?

In the above letter it was stated that Jasper may “underestimate… the critical situation in which we find ourselves”. I quite agree. In response to one of my earlier letters, I was told by a now retired National Parks superintendent that:

“There was no mountain pine problem in Jasper (or the Alberta Foothills) –there is a natural process of change unfolding and nothing anybody can do will stop it.”

This individual also questioned what he referred to as my assumption that the mountain pine beetle was a problem.

Indeed, the message we are all receiving is that our federal government via Jasper’s Park management, believes public safety must play second fiddle to the way it narrowly perceives environmental concerns.

Stuart Taylor

Retired Professional Forester, Hinton.

Past Member, Hinton Town Council