Omineca Region

Aerial surveys of spruce beetle outbreak overhead

Pilots have started taking to the air to help the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations assess the progress made on combatting an outbreak of the spruce beetle in the Omineca region. Project manager Heather Wiebe said Tuesday an airplane has been deployed this week to check for evidence of the insect and general forest health. Helicopters will then be used to do GPS surveys over the next week or two, followed by on-the-ground surveys to determine where any new attack has occurred. A majority of the data should be in hand by mid-September and analyzed by October. That’s when a summit on the spruce beetle – similar to those held for the mountain pine beetle in the past – will take place in Prince George.

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