Le Point International

THE mountain bark beetle is a familiar pest in the forests of British Columbia. Its population rises and falls unpredict­ ably, destroying clumps of pinewood as it peaks which then regenerate as the bug re­ cedes. But Scott Green, who studies forest ecology at the University of Northern Brit­ ish Columbia, says the current outbreak is unprecedented in recorded history: a nat­ ural background­noise disturbance has be­ come a major outbreak. We’re looking at the loss of 80% of our forest cover. Other parts of North America have also been af­ fected, but the damage in British Columbia is particularly severe, and particularly troubling in a province whose economy is dominated by timber.