Mountain pine beetles could be invading the city as early as this 
spring but a new plan could be in place to preserve the city’s oldest pines from being ravaged.Vernon’s Environmental Advisory Committee is recommending that the city purchase insect screens to prevent beetles from infesting the Ponderosa pines that dot the city’s landscape.“There’s a staff member working for parks in Kelowna who has a way of protecting trees from the pine beetle that avoids the use of chemicals,” said Coun. Buffy Baumbrough who is a member of the committee. “It’s a physical barrier that. . . seems to be having some success.”
spring but a new plan could be in place to preserve the city’s oldest pines from being ravaged.Vernon’s Environmental Advisory Committee is recommending that the city purchase insect screens to prevent beetles from infesting the Ponderosa pines that dot the city’s landscape.“There’s a staff member working for parks in Kelowna who has a way of protecting trees from the pine beetle that avoids the use of chemicals,” said Coun. Buffy Baumbrough who is a member of the committee. “It’s a physical barrier that. . . seems to be having some success.”
However, in order for the barriers to work, Baumbrough said, they need to be installed by the spring before the pine beetle is back on the move. Committee member Mike Carlson of the B.C. Forest Service recommended that the committee explore the idea of installing the physical barriers.“He was particularly concerned about the big Ponderosa pines in the cemetery and other areas of East Hill,” Baumbrough said. “Other communities have had their Ponderosa pines infested in a really short period of time.”Carlson told the committee that it would cost more to remove the pines from the cemetery than it would cost to install the barriers.Council will vote this afternoon whether or not to approve the committee’s recommendation to install the barriers. The environmental committee is also recommending that the Heritage Tree Inventory be complete and the Tree Protection Bylaw be updated. Although the bylaw was adopted in 1996, Baumbrough said the inventory has never been completed and it is unknown how many large, old heritage trees are located in the city.“That is one of the reasons to have the inventory completed, we don’t actually know how many trees there are,” Baumbrough said. Baumbrough said it is critical for the city to know exactly where the remaining heritage trees are located so they can be protected. She said trees are valuable not only to the community but to the environment as well.“There’s the aesthetic part, everybody loves big trees, and there’s the air quality part as well,” Baumbrough said. “Trees contribute to better air quality.”
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SEE RELATED POSTING BELOW: Brace for next wave of beetles (Kelowna)
The same dynamics apply to wrapping pines with insect screening, a technique the City of Kelowna is testing at Rutland Lion’s Park. “When the big flights come, it doesn’t matter if the trees are wrapped in a quarter-inch plate steel. They just hit everything,” said Fercho.
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