2011 Overview of Forest Health Aerial for Southern British ... · PDF file2011 Overview of Forest Health ... 2011 Douglas-firTussock Moth Program Summary Report ... Mountain Pine Beetle

2011 Overview of Forest Healthfor Southern British Columbia

Summary of

Aerial Overview Surveys

forSouthern

B.C.

2011

Prepared by:

Kevin Buxton

Lorraine Maclauchlan

Michael Murray

Ministry of Natural Resource Operations, 441 Columbia Street, Kamloops, B.C.

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Table of Contents

Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 3 Area Summary of Major Disturbance Agents...................................................................... 4-6 Map of 2011 Mountain Pine Beetle Infestations.................................................................. 7 Map of Beetle Management Units and Management Strategies.......................................... 7

South Area Overview.......................................................................................................................... 8

Mountain Pine Beetle.......................................................................................................... 8 Douglas-firBeetle................................................................................................................ 11 Spruce Beetle....................................................................................................................... 11 Western Balsam Bark Beetle............................................................................................... 11 Western Spruce Budworm................................................................................................... 12 Western Hemlock Looper.................................................................................................... 13 Douglas-firTussockMoth................................................................................................... 13 Two-YearCycleBudworm.................................................................................................. 14 Aspen Serpentine Leaf Miner.............................................................................................. 14 ForestTentCaterpillar......................................................................................................... 14 Larch Needle Blight............................................................................................................ 14 Birch Leaf Miner................................................................................................................. 15 Gypsy Moth......................................................................................................................... 15 Pine Needle Sheath Miner................................................................................................... 15 Larch Casebearer................................................................................................................. 15 Satin Moth........................................................................................................................... 15 Dothistroma Needle Blight.................................................................................................. 15 Aspen Decline..................................................................................................................... 16 Windthrow........................................................................................................................... 16 Wildfire................................................................................................................................ 16 Other.................................................................................................................................... 16

District Summaries......................................................................................................................... 17

Arrow Boundary District..................................................................................................... 17 Columbia District................................................................................................................ 20 Rocky Mountain District..................................................................................................... 21 Kootenay Lake District........................................................................................................ 23 Kamloops District................................................................................................................ 25 Headwaters District............................................................................................................. 29 Cascades District.................................................................................................................. 31 Okanagan Shuswap District................................................................................................. 33 Quesnel District................................................................................................................... 36 Central Cariboo District...................................................................................................... 37 Chilcotin District................................................................................................................. 39 100 Mile House District...................................................................................................... 40

Forest Health Special Projects....................................................................................................... 41

2011 Western Spruce Budworm Program Summary Report................................................ 41 2011Douglas-firTussockMothProgramSummaryReport................................................ 47 Western Hemlock Looper in the South Area......................................................................... 57 DefoliatorTreatmentPlansFor2012.................................................................................... 62 MountainPineBeetleImpacttoYoungPineonTFL35....................................................... 63 WesternBalsamBarkBeetleLongTermMonitoring............................................................ 68 Forest Pathology Update....................................................................................................... 72

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IntroductIon

Thisreportsummarizestheresultsofthe2011AerialOverviewSurveysforthesoutherninteriorofBritishCo-lumbia.ThesesurveysareperformedannuallybytheB.C.ForestService,MinistryofForests,LandsandNaturalResourceOperations(MFLNRO)anddocumentforestdamageduetobarkbeetles,defoliators,andanyothervisibleforesthealthfactors,suchasfoliardiseasesandabioticdamage.Surveyswerecarriedoutusingthestan-dardizedProvincialAerialOverviewSurveyprotocols (http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfp/health/overview/methods.htm).Table1describesseverityratingsusedinthesurveys.

The2011surveyswerecompletedbetweenJuly11andAugust20,2011.Atotalof281.5hoursoffixed-wingaircraftflyingin57separateflightswererequiredtocompletethesurveys,whichcoveredtheentirelandbaseoftheCariboo,ThompsonOkanagan,andKootenayBoundaryNaturalResourceRegions.Flyingconditionsweregenerallygood,althoughsomedelayswereexperiencedduetocloudy,wetweather.Unseasonablycoolweatherduringthespringandearlysummerslowedthedevelopmentofsomedamagesignatures.Asaresult,detectionofmountainpinebeetleattackwasmoredifficultandpossiblyunderrepresentedinsomeareas.

Coniferdefoliatinginsectswerethemostcommonlymappeddamage,totaling630,000hectares.Barkbeetlesaffected176,500hectares,andwerethemostprevalenttreemortalityfactorandcauseofvolumeloss.Othermajordamagetypeswereinsectdefoliatorsofdeciduoustrees(nearly96,000hectares)andneedlediseases(over33,000hectares).Anassortmentofotherdisturbances,suchasrootdiseases,animaldamage,declines,andabioticagentssuchaswildfire,causeddamageonanother4,360hectares(Table2).

In2011,realignmentoftheNaturalResourceRegionsresultedinsomeorganizationalchangestosomeDistricts.ThesouthernportionoftheHeadwatersDistrictwhichiswithintheKamloopsTimberSupplyArea,wasre-alignedwiththeformerKamloopsDistrictandrenamedtheThompsonRiversDistrict,withintheThompsonOkanaganNaturalResourcesRegion.ThenorthernportionoftheHeadwatersDistrictisnowpartoftheOminecaRegion.Similarly,theArrowBoundary,Columbia,andKootenayLakeDistrictswerefunctionallyrealignedintoasingleNaturalResourcesDistrict,theSelkirkDistrict.Forthepurposesofthisreport,theresultsoftheaerialoverviewsurveyswillbereportedoutusingtheoriginalpre-2011Districtorganizationalunitstofacilitateeasiercompari-son to previous years (Headwaters District results will represent the southern portion of the District only). No changes were made to the District boundaries in the Cariboo Natural Resources Region.

Table1.Severityratingsusedintheaerialoverviewsurveys.Twotypesofseverityratingsareused.Barkbeetles and other direct mortality-causing agents are rated based on the percentage of recently killed trees in the stand. Defoliators (both insect and disease) are rated based on the severity of foliage loss.

Disturbance Type Severity Class Description Trace <1%oftreesinthepolygonrecentlykilledTreeMortality Light 1-10%oftreesinthepolygonrecentlykilled(includingbarkbeetles, Moderate 11-29%oftreesinthepolygonrecentlykilledabioticandanimaldamage, Severe 30-49%oftreesinthepolygonrecentlykilledanddeclines) VerySevere 50%+oftreesinthepolygonrecentlykilled Light somebranchtipanduppercrowndefoliation,Defoliation barely visible from the air(includingdefoliatinginsect Moderate thinfoliage,topthirdofmanytreesandfoliardiseasedamage) severelydefoliated,somecompletelystripped Severe barebranchtipsandcompletelydefoliatedtops, mosttreessustaining>50%totaldefoliation


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Table2.Areasummariesforforesthealthfactorsmappedduringthe2011aerialoverviewsurveys.

Mountain Pine Beetle OkanaganShuswap 15,222.7 22,774.8 5,659.3 843.4 240.2 44,740.4Cascades 20,103.3 18,652.4 2,999.5 245.7 76.5 42,077.5RockyMountain 10,434.9 10,400.2 6,608.9 1,286.2 0.0 28,730.3ArrowBoundary 5,187.3 7,488.9 1,879.8 30.7 3.7 14,590.4KootenayLake 2,098.1 4,013.5 2,457.2 383.1 0.0 8,952.0Chilcotin 2,388.4 6,122.0 46.2 0.0 2.2 8,558.8Columbia 1,917.9 2,997.9 1,780.9 449.1 0.0 7,145.7CentralCariboo 2,487.4 1,340.5 42.7 0.0 0.0 3,870.7Quesnel 485.6 583.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 1,068.8Headwaters 571.3 284.2 12.1 5.3 0.0 872.9100 Mile House 187.1 39.7 78.9 0.0 0.0 305.7Kamloops 86.3 8.2 4.4 0.0 0.0 98.8Total 61,170.2 74,705.5 21,570.0 3,243.5 322.6 161,011.9Douglas-fir Beetle Chilcotin 588.9 1,191.6 39.3 0.0 0.0 1,819.8Rocky Mountain 10.8 169.9 479.5 54.5 0.0 714.6Cascades 50.4 445.4 125.8 32.2 4.2 657.9Kamloops 0.0 226.1 297.2 19.5 13.9 556.7Kootenay Lake 13.4 332.2 15.7 0.0 0.0 361.3Columbia 79.7 211.9 6.2 0.0 0.0 297.8Okanagan Shuswap 0.0 87.7 159.2 37.6 3.6 288.1Central Cariboo 144.7 98.5 39.8 0.0 0.0 283.0Quesnel 0.0 195.6 71.5 0.0 0.0 267.0100 Mile House 35.4 143.6 5.0 0.0 0.0 184.1Arrow Boundary 0.0 33.1 38.8 0.0 0.0 72.0Headwaters 0.0 6.8 9.3 0.0 0.0 16.2Total 923.3 3,142.5 1,287.1 143.8 21.7 5,518.5Spruce Beetle CentralCariboo 1,868.5 2,649.5 344.5 0.0 0.0 4,862.6Kamloops 0.0 552.6 1,044.2 607.1 87.8 2,291.7100MileHouse 409.6 1,027.5 268.9 0.0 0.0 1,705.9Rocky Mountain 0.0 120.7 309.8 47.4 0.0 477.9Cascades 0.0 35.2 363.6 41.4 26.7 466.9Quesnel 43.5 134.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 177.9Headwaters 0.0 0.0 25.6 0.0 0.0 25.6Okanagan Shuswap 0.0 7.3 10.6 0.0 0.0 17.9Chilcotin 0.0 0.0 3.5 0.0 0.0 3.5Total 2,321.6 4,527.3 2,370.5 695.9 114.5 10,029.8Western Balsam Bark Beetle OkanaganShuswap 52,916.6 120.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 53,037.0Headwaters 38,663.9 1,247.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 39,911.8CentralCariboo 15,746.0 5,785.8 335.6 0.0 0.0 21,867.4Kamloops 12,811.0 476.6 9.7 0.0 0.0 13,297.3Quesnel 12,456.1 166.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 12,622.7100MileHouse 3,624.9 1,018.4 634.7 0.0 0.0 5,278.0Chilcotin 4,052.2 970.5 6.5 0.0 0.0 5,029.2Cascades 4,408.6 61.9 9.2 0.0 0.0 4,479.7ArrowBoundary 1,628.3 21.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 1,649.9RockyMountain 1,451.6 143.4 27.1 0.0 0.0 1,622.1Columbia 887.9 98.4 20.8 0.0 0.0 1,007.1Kootenay Lake 584.5 375.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 960.3Total 149,231.6 10,487.4 1,043.6 0.0 0.0 160,762.5

Forest District Area of Infestation (hectares)and Damaging Agent Trace Light Moderate Severe Very Severe Total

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Table2continued. Area summaries for forest health factors mapped during the 2011 aerial overview surveys.

Western Spruce Budworm CentralCariboo 267,388.3 36,529.1 1,797.5 305,714.9100MileHouse 61,309.8 955.2 0.0 62,265.1Cascades 34,044.7 18,177.9 196.0 52,418.7ArrowBoundary 21,332.7 17,318.6 1,452.9 40,104.3OkanaganShuswap 39,869.5 36,398.1 1,033.0 77,300.6Chilcotin 29,238.6 3,558.6 1,206.7 34,003.9Quesnel 16,922.2 953.5 0.0 17,875.7Kamloops 12,136.8 4,970.4 0.0 17,107.2RockyMountain 3,538.7 3,241.3 387.3 7,167.2Columbia 51.6 180.6 45.0 277.2Headwaters 80.1 0.0 0.0 80.1Total 485,913.0 122,283.4 6,118.5 614,314.8Douglas-fir Tussock Moth Kamloops 1,369.6 2,660.6 1,400.7 5,430.9OkanaganShuswap 518.4 371.2 660.2 1,549.8Cascades 277.4 568.8 180.9 1,027.2100 Mile House 60.0 0.0 299.4 359.3Total 2,225.4 3,600.7 2,541.2 8,367.3Western Hemlock Looper CentralCariboo 5,144.5 629.8 0.0 5,774.4Headwaters 585.7 16.7 0.0 602.4Columbia 492.4 104.3 0.0 596.7Okanagan Shuswap 77.3 0.0 0.0 77.3Total 6,300.0 750.9 0.0 7,050.8Aspen Serpentine Leaf Miner Headwaters 23,670.3 5,866.2 0.0 29,536.5CentralCariboo 0.0 0.0 3,942.4 3,942.4Kamloops 2,548.5 1,077.4 0.0 3,625.9Quesnel 2,077.9 1,236.2 1.8 3,315.8Chilcotin 2,952.1 150.1 0.0 3,102.2Columbia 1,730.4 231.4 0.0 1,961.8OkanaganShuswap 1,248.3 454.8 0.0 1,703.1100 Mile House 42.3 127.2 817.7 987.1Kootenay Lake 454.9 187.0 0.0 642.0Rocky Mountain 11.8 314.7 66.7 393.3Arrow Boundary 46.9 296.6 0.0 343.5Total 34,783.3 9,941.6 4,828.7 49,553.6Forest Tent Caterpillar Quesnel 22,279.8 7,694.2 10,124.7 40,098.7OkanaganShuswap 742.7 683.4 0.0 1,426.1Headwaters 36.5 769.4 0.0 805.9Kamloops 357.6 71.3 0.0 428.9Chilcotin 0.0 5.4 23.0 28.4Total 23,416.6 9,223.7 10,147.8 42,788.0Birch Leaf Miner Arrow Boundary 438.1 538.2 0.0 976.3Kamloops 790.1 94.7 0.0 884.8Kootenay Lake 495.9 81.1 0.0 577.0Okanagan Shuswap 159.3 54.4 0.0 213.8Columbia 130.0 0.0 0.0 130.0Rocky Mountain 65.3 8.5 13.6 87.5Headwaters 45.4 0.0 0.0 45.4Total 2,124.1 776.9 13.6 2,914.7

Forest District Area of Infestation (ha)and Damaging Agent Light Moderate Severe Total


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Table2continued. Area summaries for forest health factors mapped during the 2011 aerial overview surveys.

Larch Needle Blight ArrowBoundary 13,775.8 4,525.4 1,315.1 19,616.4RockyMountain 6,019.0 2,607.0 2,045.4 10,671.4KootenayLake 1,528.3 644.6 245.7 2,418.5Okanagan Shuswap 224.2 10.6 0.0 234.8Columbia 7.5 0.0 0.0 7.5Total 21,554.8 7,787.6 3,606.2 32,948.6Dothistroma Needle Blight Okanagan Shuswap 94.2 79.1 0.0 173.3Headwaters 33.6 38.2 0.0 71.8Total 127.8 117.3 0.0 245.1Pine Needle Sheath Miner (Zellaria) Okanagan Shuswap 157.8 82.2 0.0 240.0Kamloops 7.7 21.2 0.0 28.9Total 165.5 103.4 0.0 268.9Larch Casebearer Okanagan Shuswap 21.7 56.5 0.0 78.2Total 21.7 56.5 0.0 78.2Satin Moth Arrow Boundary 569.4 0.0 0.0 569.4Cascades 23.9 11.0 0.0 34.9Total 593.3 11.0 0.0 604.3Aspen Decline Cascades 8.0 262.4 0.0 270.4100 Mile House 7.6 0.0 36.8 44.4Okanagan Shuswap 0.0 0.0 34.3 34.3Kamloops 0.0 24.9 0.0 24.9Total 15.6 287.3 71.1 374.0Wildfire Central Cariboo 0.0 0.0 298.5 298.5100 Mile House 0.0 0.0 274.0 274.0Cascades 0.0 0.0 135.6 135.6Okanagan Shuswap 0.0 0.0 53.8 53.8Kamloops 0.0 0.0 43.6 43.6Columbia 0.0 0.0 29.5 29.5Headwaters 0.0 0.0 23.9 23.9Rocky Mountain 0.0 0.0 21.0 21.0Quesnel 0.0 0.0 20.3 20.3Arrow Boundary 0.0 0.0 17.7 17.7Kootenay Lake 0.0 0.0 12.6 12.6Chilcotin 0.0 0.0 3.4 3.4Total 0.0 0.0 933.8 933.8

Forest District Area of Infestation (ha)and Damaging Agent Light Moderate Severe Total

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Figure 1. Mountain pine beetle infestations and Natural Resource District locations in the Southern Interior in 2011.

Figure2.BeetleManagementUnit(BMU)boundaries,andassociatedmountainpinebeetlestrategies,asofFebruary 2012.

Kamloops

Nelson

Golden

WilliamsLake

Quesnel

ArrowBoundary

RockyMountain

OkanaganShuswap

Columbia

Kamloops

Cascades

100 MileHouse

CentralCariboo

Chilcotin

Kootenay Lake

Headwaters


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Figure 3. Area affected by mountain pine beetle from 2000-2011inBritishColumbia,byarea.

Figure 4. Proportion of mountain pine beetle infested areabyinfestationseveritylevel,from2003-2011,

in the Southern Interior.

Area Number of Average Polygon Number of Spot Number of Trees KilledYear Infested (ha) Polygons Size (ha) Infestations in Spot Infestations2001 141,176 4,760 29.7 3,672 37,0742002 612,054 7,349 83.3 6,308 56,0542003 2,525,722 13,133 192.4 5,270 42,3722004 4,220,499 41,057 101.9 4,932 63,4102005 4,853,830 49,381 95.6 3,839 35,0332006 5,125,879 59,971 85.5 5,672 71,8032007 5,379,219 59,373 90.6 5,429 71,4092008 4,812,045 52,402 67.0 3,181 39,5692009 2,342,129 23,493 99.7 5,745 73,9942010 558,118 15,127 36.9 6,573 89,7472011 161,012 5,999 26.8 4,526 56,835

Table3.Areainfested,numberofpolygons,averagepolygonsize,andnumberoftreeskilledinspotinfestations,formountainpinebeetleintheSouthernInterior,2001-2011.

regIonal overvIew

MountaIn PIne Beetle, DenDroctonus ponDerosae

Mountainpinebeetleattackcontinuedtosubside,fromapeakof5,380,000hectaresin2007,tojust161,000hectaresin2011(Figure3,Figure4,Table3).AreaaffectedwasdowninallDistricts,withthebiggestdeclinesbeingintheChilcotin,100MileHouse,Kamloops,andHeadwatersDistricts.Althoughmuchofthedeclinehasbeenduetodepletionofsusceptiblehost,unseasonablycoolweatherduringthesummer,causinglateemergenceandbeetleflight,hasalsobeenafactor.Despitethegeneraldownwardtrend,populationsarestillwidespreadacrossmuchofthesouthernandeasternportionsoftheprovince(Figure1)andsignificantgreenpineinventoriesremain.Potentialforfuturepopulationexpansionstillexistsintheseareas.

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Barkbeetleattackinyounglodgepolepinehasdeclined,andwasmappedonjust1,850hectares,mostofwhichwaslightortrace(under10%redattack).MostofthisactivitywasintheOkanaganShuswapandCentralCari-boo Districts.

Ponderosapinemortalitycontinued,causedbyacombinationofmountainpinebeetle,westernpinebeetleand/orIps (engraver beetles) attack in some geographic locations. Most ponderosa pine mortality was in the Cascades District(3,720ha)andOkanaganShuswapDistrict(3,556ha).Scatteredmortalitywasobservedinthe100MileHouse,Kamloops,ArrowBoundary,KootenayLake,andRockyMountainDistricts.Whitebarkpinemortalityhasdeclined,althoughscatteredattackisstilloccurringintheBendorandLillooetRangesoftheCascadesDistrict,and the Purcell Range of the Rocky Mountain District. Many whitebark pine stands have suffered high levels of cumulative mortality over the past several years.

Mountainpinebeetleredattackwasdetectedinfifty-threeseparateProvincialParks,andthreeNationalParks,althoughtheareamappedhasdeclinedtojust11,350hectares(Table4).ThemostaffectedparkswereYoho(4,843ha),Ts’yl-os(1,395ha),(1,335ha),Purcell(1,335ha),andGladstone(1,130ha).B.C.Parkshascontinuedtofocusonremovalofdangertreesandmitigationoffirehazard.

Provincial Parks National ParksDistrict # with MPB Area affected (ha) # with MPB Affected Area (ha)OkanaganShuswap 20 2,382 0 0ArrowBoundary 5 2,169 0 0RockyMountain 7 2,029 1 259KootenayLake 7 1,554 0 0Chilcotin 4 1,428 0 0Cascades 10 1,323 0 0100 Mile House 2 231 0 0Central Cariboo 2 229 0 0Columbia 0 0 3 5,003Kamloops 0 0 0 0Headwaters 0 0 0 0Quesnel 0 0 0 0Total 53** 11,346 3** 5,262

Table4.Area(hectares)ofmountainpinebeetleinProvincialParksandNationalParksintheSouthernInteriorin 2011.

*Provincial Parks -includesProvincialParks,ProtectedAreas,EcologicalReserves,andRecreationAreas.**SeveralparkscrossoverDistrictboundaries,hencethesetotalsarelowerthanwouldbeindicatedbythedatainthistable.

Tunkwa Provincial Park, July 2011.


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Beetle Management Unit (BMU) strategies are re-assessed annually for the three major bark beetle species,afterthecompletionoftheaerialoverviewsurveys,andanydetailedsurveysand/orgroundsur-veys. Strategies for mountain pine beetle remained unchangedinmostareas(seeFigure2andTable6)due to staticordecliningpopulations.Nearly60%of the land base of the Southern Interior continues to be in Salvage for mountain pine beetle. Suppression activitiesareconfinedto8%ofthelandbase,inthesouthandsoutheastoftheRockyMountainDistrict,the southwest of theColumbiaDistrict, and thesouthernOkanaganandBoundaryareas.TwoBMU’swere upgraded from Holding Action to Suppression inRockyMountainDistrict, and in theOkanaganShuswap,oneBMUwasdowngradedfromSuppres-sion toHoldingAction, andanother fromHoldingAction to Salvage.

Number of infestationsDistrict Spots PolygonsRockyMountain 1,385 1,514OkanaganShuswap 847 1,471Arrow Boundary 758 502Cascades 601 1,340Chilcotin 371 317Kootenay Lake 343 449Columbia 115 205Central Cariboo 33 127Headwaters(KamloopsTSA) 31 42Kamloops 24 7Quesnel 13 11100 Mile House 5 14Total 4,526 5,999

Table5.Numberofspotandpolygoninfestationsofmountain pine beetle in the Southern Interior in 2011.

Left: Mountain pine beetle salvage harvesting near Dardanelles Lake, Kamloops District -

Cascades District boundary

District Suppression Holding Action Salvage Monitor TotalQuesnel 0 0 71(2,077,316) 0 71(2,077,316)CentralCariboo 0 0 51(2,063,411) 0 51(2,063,411)100MileHouse 0 0 43(1,235,998) 0 43(1,235,998)Chilcotin 0 0 69(2,870,249) 0 69(2,870,249)Kamloops 0 0 14(1,315,254) 0 14(1,315,254)Cascades 0 1(40,607) 17(2,015,284) 3(200,281) 21(2,256,171)OkanaganShuswap 6(325,107) 9(758,443) 19(1,329,689) 1(45,929) 35(2,449,168)Headwaters 0 1(72,266) 34(1,801,170) 9(1,040,938) 44(2,914,375)Columbia 6(233,189) 2(44,249) 0 50(1,866,870) 58(2,144,309)ArrowBoundary 5(279,923) 35(1,297,539) 0 10(419,063) 50(1,996,524)KootenayLake 3(102,915) 17(884,511) 0 7(253,430) 27(1,240,857)RockyMountain 30(1,113,161) 46(1,621,913) 0 1(41,458) 77(2,800,531)Total 49 (2,125,679) 111 (4,739,983) 318 (14,630,532) 81 (3,867,969) 560 (25,364,163)

Table6. Beetlemanagementunitmountainpinebeetlestrategydesignations in theSouthernInteriorForestRegionasofFebruary2012,bynumberofunits,andarea(hectares).

Right - area designated as suppression strategy for mountain pine beetle near Baldy Mountain,

Arrow Boundary District.

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District # spot infestations # treesCentralCariboo 586 2,364Kamloops 377 2,906OkanaganShuswap 247 2,055100 Mile House 213 786Chilcotin 213 1,097Cascades 171 1,461RockyMountain 106 1,587Quesnel 85 447Headwaters(KamloopsTSA) 47 345Kootenay Lake 43 534Arrow Boundary 30 385Columbia 14 268Total 2,132 14,235

Table7.NumberofspotinfestationsofDouglas-firbeetle in the Southern Interior in 2011.

douglas-fIr Beetle, DenDroctonus pseuDotsugae

OverallareaaffectedbyDouglas-firbeetlecontinuedtodecline, from10,160hectares in2010to5,520hectaresin2011.However,populationsremainveryactiveandwidespread,withmanysmall,scatteredspot infestationsmapped in theCentralCariboo,Kamloops,OkanaganShuswap,100MileHouse,andCascadesDistricts(Table7).Ofparticularconcern,is the increasing number of spot infestations in the CentralCaribooDistrict, in and aroundWilliamsLake,ChimneyCreek,KnifeCreek, andBeaverCreek. Due to thecoolspring, treefadewas lateacrossmuchoftheCariboo,andsomeattackmayhave been missed.

sPruce Beetle, DenDroctonus rufipennis

Sprucebeetlewasmappedon10,030hectares,downfromnearly30,000hectaresin2010.ThiswasmainlyduetoasignificantdeclineintheongoingoutbreakintheCentralCaribooand100MileHouseDistricts,whichhadaccountedfor85%ofallattackin2010.Populations also appear to be declining in the north-easternpartsoftheCascadesDistrict,andstableinthe Kamloops and Rocky Mountain Districts. Popula-tions remain low in most other areas.

western BalsaM Bark Beetle, Dryocoetes confusus

Western balsam bark beetle continues to be active in most high elevation areaswhere subalpinefir is thedominantspecies.Mortalitywasmappedon160,760hectares,whichisaslightdecreasefrom2010levelsof183,167hectares.TheOkanaganShuswapDistrictandHeadwatersDistrictcontinuedtoaccountfornearly60%of all infested area.

Spruce beetle attack near Sun Peaks Resort, Kamloops District.

Western balsam bark beetle, Scotch Creek area, Okanagan Shuswap District.


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western sPruce BudworM, choristoneura occiDentalis

ThetotalareadefoliatedbythewesternsprucebudwormintheSouthArea(ThompsonOkanagan,CaribooandKootenayBoundaryRegions)increasedby25%to614,315hectaresin2011.Ofmostsignificancewastheexpan-sionoftheareaclassifiedasmoderateorseveredefoliation,whichincreased2.5foldto128,400hectares.ThemostnotableexpansionswereobservedintheCentralCariboo,Chilcotin,100MileHouse,OkanaganShuswapandArrowBoundaryDistricts.DefoliationwasalsodetectedinthesouthernTrenchareaoftheRockyMountainDistrictforthefirsttime,althoughtheareaaffectedwasverylimited.DefoliationlevelsintheThompsonRiversDistrictdeclinedsharply,inpartduetoalargecontrolprogramintheSabiston-DeadmanCreekareawhereover17,600hectaresweresprayed.DefoliationlevelsalsodeclinedinpartsoftheCascadesDistrictwhereverypro-tracted cool spring weather resulted in high levels of dispersing 2nd instar larvae mortality. Budworm populations remainedhealthyinstandswestofNicolaLakeandinthesouthernportionoftheMerrittTSA.Approximately16,488hectaresofdefoliationweremappednearGoldBridgeintheLillooetTSA.

Eggmasssamplingwascarriedoutinthefallat680sitesintheThompsonOkanagan,CaribooandKootenayBoundaryRegionscombinedplus26sitesintheCoastRegion(atotalof706sites).Therelativeabundanceofegg masses predicts budworm populations the following year. 2011 sampling results indicate that the budworm outbreakwillcontinue tobewidespread throughout the threeRegions in2012,with thehighestpopulationslocatedintheChimneyLake,DogCreek,AlkaliCreek,CanoeCreek,Merritt,BlueGrouseMountain,SouthOkanagan,andRockCreekareas.

50,763hectaresofhigh-prioritystandsweretreatedwithForay48B(B.t.k.)betweenJune21andJuly5intheThompsonOkanaganandCaribooRegions.Afullreportonthe2011sprayprogramcanbefoundintheSpecialProjects section at the end of this document.

Western spruce budworm defoliation, Mount Kobau, Okanagan Shuswap District.

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western HeMlock looPer, lambDina fiscellaria lugubrosa

Defoliationcausedbythewesternhemlocklooperandassociateddefoliatinginsectsincreasedto7,050hectaresin2011from3,035hectaresin2010,although90%wasclassifiedaslight.MostofthenewdefoliationwasintheQuesnelLakearea.Scattered,smallpocketsofdefoliationwerealsomappedintheNorthThompsonRiver,LakeRevelstoke,andUpperShuswapRiverareas.Afullreportonpopulationmonitoringactivitiesandresultscan be found in the Special Projects section of this document.

douglas-fIr tussock MotH, orgyia pseuDotsugata

TheDouglas-firtussockmothoutbreakisnowinitsdeclinephase,yetpopulationsremainedhighinseveralareas.Defoliationwasmappedon8,367hectareswithover30%ofthedefoliationratedassevereand43%asmoderate.ThemoreactivepopulationsandmostseveredefoliationwerelocatedintheVeasyLake,CacheCreek,BattleCreek,SabistonCreek,andCarrsLandingareas,withmorescatteredpocketsofdefoliationmappedintheEneasCreek,Penticton,SpencesBridge,Pavilion,WestFraserRoad,andBigBarareas.TheinfestationsaroundBigBarexpandednorthasfarasChinaGulch.ThisrepresentsthemostnortherlyrecordoftussockmothdefoliationinB.C.andthefirstvisibledefoliationinthe100MileHouseDistrict.Rotary-wingdetailedaerialsurveyswereconductedtomaptreemortalityinareaswheretheoutbreakhascollapsed.Nearly8,800hectaresofDouglas-firforesthassustainedsomelevelofmortality,withabouthalfoftheareasustaining50%ormoremortality.ThemostimpactedstandsareinBarnhartvale,MonteCreek,CampbellCreek,HeffleyCreek,CherryCreek,SixMile,andSavona.Afinalassessmentoftreemortalitywillbedoneoverthenext1-2yearsaslocalizedpopulationsoftussock moth collapse.

Foray 48B (B.t.k.)wasappliedaeriallyto7,280hectaresofhighprioritystandsnearBattleCreek,CacheCreek,VeasyLake,PavilionLake,andPeachlandCreekbetweenJune21-24,inanattempttoreducelarvalpopulationsandlimittreemortality.Overthepastfouryears,theB.C.ForestService’ssprayprogramshavesignificantlyreducedtheextentandseverityofdamagebytreatingnearly22,000hectareswithnuclearpolyhedrosisvirusor B.t.k. A more detailed account of population monitoring and the 2011 spray operations can be found in the Special Projects section at the end of this document.

Severe Douglas-fir tussock moth defoliation near Deadman River, Kamloops District.


14

two-Year cYcle BudworM, choristoneura biennis

2011wasan“off”yearinthelifecycleofthisdefoliator,whenlarvaearesmallandlittlefeedingoccurs,andassuch no defoliation was visible. An operational spray trial using B.t.k. on the two year cycle budworm is planned for2012.AsitenearMountTomintheQuesnelDistrictwasdelineatedforthetrialaftergroundchecksconfirmedmoderatetohighlevelsofbudworminthisareaandsignificantdefoliationispredictedfor2012.Theplanisto treat peak 4th instar larvae with 2.4 litres B.t.k. per hectare. Close monitoring of larval development will be done in the early summer to determine the optimal timing of the treatment as well as pre- and post-spray larval samplingtodetermineefficacyofthetreatment.

asPen serPentIne leaf MIner, phyllocnistis populiella

Aspen serpentine leaf miner continues to bewidespread,withdefoliationmappedon49,554 hectares. Aspen, especially in theCariboo,iswidelydistributedbutoftenoc-cursinspatiallypatchydistributionsofmixedspecies stands and small non-treed openings. Because of this, adequately capturing theextentandseverityofserpentineleafminerdamage is difficult. The actual incidenceis much greater than indicated by the aerial surveyresults,asitisgenerallyonlymappedwhen damage is pronounced and readily vis-ible from the air. Notations are often made on survey maps to indicate a general “back-ground” levelof infestation. Themajorityof the mapped areas were in the Headwaters District,withscatteredareasnotedacrosstheCariboo,Okanagan,andKootenays.

forest tent caterPIllar, malacosoma Disstria

Foresttentcaterpillardefoliationincreasedslightlyto42,790hectares,from37,840hectaresin2010.Over90%oftheaffectedareawasintheQuesnelDistrict,whereanextensiveoutbreakhasbeenongoingforseveralyears.Nearly19,000hectaressufferedmoderatetoseveredefoliationin2011,andinsomeoftheseareas,branchandtopdieback,aswellassometreemortality,isbeingseen.SmalleroutbreakswererecordedintheOkanaganShuswap,Kamloops,andHeadwatersDistricts.

larcH needle BlIgHt, hypoDermella laricis

Larchneedleblightinfectionsincreasedsubstantially,likelyasa resultof thecool,wetweatherduring thespringandearly summer. A totalof32,950hectaresofdamagewasmapped,mostofwhichwasintheAr-rowBoundary,RockyMountain,andKootenayLakeDistricts.

Larch needle blight infection.

Aspen serpentine leaf miner damage in scattered aspen in Wells Gray Park. Inset shows closeup of

leaf damage.

15


BIrcH leaf MIner, fenusa pusilla

Birchleafminerdamagelevelsdecreasedto2,915hectares,from8,420hectaresin2010.AffectedstandswerescatteredthroughthesouthKootenays,centralOkanagan,andKamloopsareas.

gYPsY MotH, lymantria Dispar

TheMFLNRO,inco-operationwiththeCanadianFoodInspectionAgencyandtheCanadianForestryService,monitorsforoccurrenceofEuropeangypsymothatmanysitesthroughoutthesoutherninterior,suchaswoodlandrecreationsitesandothersmallvenues.OneEuropeangypsymothwasconfirmedfromapheromonetrapsiteatKokaneeCreekParkin2009.Asubsequentdelimittrappinggrid(16trapsinasquaremile)atthatsitein2010didnotcatchanymoths,howevertwomothswerecaughtoutsidethegridintwonearbytraps.Delimitinggridswere installed at each of these two sites in 2011 but no moths were caught. A single moth was caught in a regular monitoring trap near the Revelstoke Mountain Resort. A delimiting grid may be deployed in this area in 2012.

PIne needle sHeatH MIner, Zellaria haimbachi

Severalsmall,isolatedpocketsofpineneedlesheathminerdamageweredetectedinlodgepolepineplantationsintheOkanaganShuswap,Kamloops,andQuesnelDistricts.Defoliationlevelsrangedfromlighttomoderate.ThisisthefirstdetectionofZellaria in several years.

larcH caseBearer, coleophora laricella

LarchcasebearerdefoliationwasdetectedintheOkanaganforthefirsttimeinmanyyears.Atotalof78hectaressufferedlighttomoderatedefoliatedintheKingEdwardMainarea,southeastofVernon.ThesmallareaoflarchcasebearerthatwasdetectedintheElkRiverin2010didnotreappearin2011.

satIn MotH, leucoma salicis

570 hectares of trembling aspen were lightly defoliated by satin moth near New Denver. Another three small areas totalling 35 hectares were defoliated in the Cascades District.

dotHIstroMa needle BlIgHt, Dothistroma septosporum

Dothistroma needle blight was visible at damaging levels on several scattered lodgepole pine plantations in the Headwaters and Okanagan Shuswap Districts. Theaffectedstandswereintheinteriorcedar-hemlockecosystem,commonlyincoldairdrainageareasalongvalley bottoms. This pathogen has been causingserious damage to pine plantations in the northwest interiorofB.C.,andhasbecomemoreprevalentintheSouth over the past few years. Research suggests the increasing incidence may be linked to an increase in thefrequencyofsummerprecipitation.

Dothistroma needle blight on lodgepole pine near Raft Peak. Note typical “bottom up” damage pattern.

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asPen declIne

Symptoms of decline (dead tops and branch tips and tree mortality) were observed in several scatteredtremblingaspenstandsintheCascades,Kamloops,OkanaganShuswap,and100MileHouseDistricts. Mostofthestandsshowingthesymptomswereindryareas,oftensurrounded by grassland. A total of 374 hectares were mapped. One single causal agent has notbeenidentified,butrepeateddroughtconditionsoverseveralyearsmaybeacontributorin addition to a variety of insects and diseases.

wIndtHrow

Windthrowdamagewasmappedon500hectares,mostlyinsmall,scatteredpocketsintheRockyMountain,Columbia,and100MileHouseDistricts.Overhalfoftheaffectedstandswerespruceleading,whichmaycontributetolocallyincreasedsprucebeetlepopulations.

wIldfIre

Wildfireactivitywasverylowin2011,withlessthan1,000hectaresburnedinsouthernB.C.Thisisattributedtoacoolandwetspringandsummer.

otHer

Severalotherforesthealthagentswereobservedduringtheaerialoverviewsurveys.Theseincluded545hectaresofredbeltinthewestCariboo,378hectaresofbeardamageinplanta-tions,440hectaresofslideandavalanchedamage,197hectaresoffloodingdamage,8hectaresof lodgepole pine mortality caused by engraver beetles (Ips),and9hectaresofdamagecausedby road salt near 108 Mile House. 830 hectares of western red cedar stands in the Headwaters Districtexhibitedslightlyyellowedfoliagewithoutanyothersymptoms;nocausalagentwasdeterminedduetodifficultgroundaccess.

Stand of trembling aspen exhibiting symptoms of decline near Douglas Lake, Cascades District.

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kootenaY BoundarY regIon suMMarY

TheKootenay-Boundaryportionofthe2011aerialoverviewsurveywasconductedbetweenJuly23rd and August 20th.Totalflyingtimewas102hours,conductedover18flightdays.Surveyscoveredtheentire6.2millionhectarelandbase,includingNationalParks,withintheArrowBoundary,Columbia,KootenayLake,andRockyMountainForestDistricts.ThesurveyorswereNeilEmeryandAdamO’GradyofNazcaConsultingLtd.andutilizedaCessna337Skymaster,operatedbyBabinAir.

arrow BoundarY dIstrIct

Mountain Pine Beetle

Area affected by mountain pine beetle declinedbyjustover20%,to14,590hect-ares.Thisisthethirdconsecutiveyearthatinfestedareahasdropped, fromahighofover88,000hectaresin2008.Thenumberof spot infestations alsodeclined, to only758(1,290in2010).Groundsurveyscon-ductedpost-beetleflight indicateddeclin-ingpopulations,withmanyofthesmallerinfestation sites showing less than one new mass attacked tree. Despite this general downwardtrend,beetleactivityisstillwide-spreadacrossnearlyallareasoftheDistrict,especiallyintheupperKettleRiver,RendellCreek,ChristinaLake,Rossland,InonoaklinCreek,andLostCreekareas,andpotentialfor population increases exist dependingupon weather conditions in 2012. Attack of other pine specieswas rare,with onlya few spots of ponderosa pine mortality observed. No young pine plantations are yet under attack.

Douglas-fir Beetle

Douglas-firbeetleactivityremainsrelativelylow,withjust72hectaresoflightandmoderateattack,andanad-ditional30spotinfestations.InfestationsintheTroutLakeandIngramCreekRoadareasdeclined,andotherinfestations are small and scattered.

Western Balsam Bark Beetle

Westernbalsambarkbeetledamagecontinuedtodecline,from2,680hectaresin2010,to1,650hectaresin2011.MostoftheattackwasintheValhallaRangeandinandaroundTFL3.Nearlyalloftheattackwasclassifiedastrace.

Late fading mountain pine beetle attack in the Kettle River valley, Arrow Boundary District.

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Western Spruce Budworm

Westernsprucebudwormdefoliationwasmappedforthefirsttimesince1991.40,100hectareswereaffected,nearlyhalfofwhichwasclassifiedasmoderateorsevere.DefoliationwasextensiveonstandsextendingfromtheDistrictBoundary,westtoGrandForks,andnorthtoWestbridge and Henderson Creek. Defoliation was also mapped west of Beaverdell. Popula-tionsareexpectedtoremainhighin2012,withnearly50%ofthe117sitessampledforeggmasses in the fall predicting moderate or severe defoliation. Aerial spraying with B.t.k. is being planned for 2012 for high priority stands.

Western spruce budworm defoliation near Ingram Creek, Arrow Boundary District.

Douglas-fir Tussock Moth

Rising populations were detected near Rock Creek in 2008 and 2009. An aerial spray program usingnuclearpolyhedrosisvirus(NPV)wascompletedin2010,andonlyafewtreesweredefoliated that year.

AttheninepermanentsamplesitesintheDistrict,totalmothcatchoverallsites(sixtrapspersite)declinedfrom38in2009to15in2010,butincreasedto654in2011.ThehighestaveragemothcatchespersitewereatKettleProvincialPark,JohnstoneCreek,andMidway,at57.5,23.3,and18.0mothspertrap,respectively.However,nositehadconsecutiveyearsofaveragetrapcatchesexceeding20-25mothswhichisusedasthethresholdtoindicatebuildingpopulations that may cause visible defoliation (Shepherd et al. 1985). In general average moth catches per site remained low overall and defoliation is not anticipated in 2012. Only two larvaewerefoundinthethree-treebeatinglarvalsurveysattheninesites,andnodefoliationattributeddirectlytoDouglas-firtussockmothwasmappedduringtheaerialsurveys.Trapcatchesatsixadditionalsitesdeployedbymembersofthewoodlotassociationcaught252moths,butnolarvalbeatingsweredone.Eggmasssurveyswillbeconductedinthespringof2012intheRockCreek,Midway,andBridesvilleareastodetermineifthereispotential for a building tussock moth population.

Douglas-fir tussock moth egg mass.

Shepherd,R.F.,T.G.Gray,R.J.ChorneyandG.E.Daterman.1985. Pest manage-mentofDouglas-firtussockmoth,Or-gyia pseudotsugata (Lepidoptera: Ly-mantriidae): Moni-to r ing endemic populations with pheromone traps to detect incipient outbreaks. Cana-dianEntomologist117:839–848.

19


Douglas-fir exhibiting thinning crowns near Trout Lake, Arrow Boundary District.

Aspen Serpentine Leaf Miner

Aspenserpentineleafminerdefoliationdeclined,from3,010hectaresin2010,tojust344hectaresin2011.Thelittleactivitythatwasvis-ible was scattered across the northern half of the District.

Birch Leaf Miner

Afterincreasingin2010,birchleafminerpopulationsappeartohavedeclined,withdefoliationdownfrom2,750hectaresto976hectares.MostoftheactivitywasintheBigSheepCreek,InonoaklinCreek,and Hoder Creek areas.

Satin Moth

Satinmothlightlydefoliated570hectaresofaspeninSeatonCreek,justeastofNewDenver.Nopermanentdamageisexpected.

Larch Needle Blight

Areaaffectedbylarchneedleblightincreasednearlyten-fold,to19,615hectares.Nearly30%oftheareawasclassifiedasmoderateorsevere,wheregrowthlossimpactsmayoccur.Damagewasscatteredthroughoutthesoutherntwo-thirdsoftheDistrict,mainlyinmid-agedplantations.ThemostextensiveareasmappedwereintheTrappingCreekarea.

Other

Otherdamagerecordedbytheaerialsurveysincluded16hectaresofbeardamage,18hectaresofwildfire,ninehectaresofwindthrow,fourhectaresofflooding,and34hectaresofslidedamage.

A few other noteworthy pests were observed during ground surveys. Scattered single tree mortality of mature Douglas-firwasonceagainevidentalongHighway3betweenEholtandGrandForks.ThesymptomswerenottypicalofDouglas-firbeetleandaremorelikelyattributabletodroughtand/orsecondaryinsects.Douglas-firexhibitedthinningcrownsaccompaniedbystemmortalityalonghillsidessouthofTroutLake.Nogroundassess-ment was done in this area however the likely agents are a combination of Armillaria root disease and Douglas-firbeetle. Moderate toseverebirch leafminerdefoliationwasobservedalong theSalmo-CrestonHighway.Foliardiseases(leafrustsandinkspots)onaspenandcottonwoodwereprevalentthroughtthemonitoringarea,especially along the Greenwood/Midway corridor. Venturia twig blight and serpentine leaf miner were noted on aspennearEholt.

Serpentine leaf miner.


20

coluMBIa dIstrIct


MountainpinebeetleactivityhascontinuedtodeclineintheDistrict,from12,600hectaresin2010to7,145hectaresin2011.Anadditional1,340treeswerekilledin115spotinfestations.Only1,420hectaresoftheredattackwereontheProvinciallandbase,withthebulkbeinginoneoftheNationalParks(5,725hectares).Mostof the attack outside of the National Parks was in the Blaeberry River and Golden areas. Attack in whitebark pine hasalsodeclined,withonly58hectaresoftraceandlightmortalitymapped.


InfestationsinKootenayandYohoNationalParksdeclined,resultinginadropininfestedareafrom2,160hectaresin2010,tojustover1,000hectaresin2011.Beetlepopulationsarerelativelylowinmostareas,andsubablpinefirmortalityismostlyinsmallscatteredpatches.

Douglas-fir Beetle

AreaaffectedbyDouglas-firbeetledeclinedby45%, to298hectares.Attackseverity tended tobe low,andinfestations were limited to smaller patches or spots of 5-50 trees. Most of the activity was in the Beaverfoot RiverareaofYohoNationalPark

Western Hemlock Looper

SeveralsmallpocketsoflightandmoderatedefoliationweredetectedalongtheedgesofLakeRevelstoke,northofDownieCreek,aswellasalongtheeasternslopeofFrisbyRidgeandnearCranberryCreek.Affectedareawas597hectares,upfrom358hectaresin2010.

Trapcatchesat11permanentsamplingsites(sixtrapspersite)doubledfromanaverageof347to725mothspertrap.ThelargestincreasesinaveragetrapcatcheswereatthesitesnorthofDownieCreek,witharangeof689to1,533mothspertrap,upfromarangeof303to468in2010.

Three-treebeatingswerealsoconductedtoassesslatestagelarvalpopulationsatthesesitesaswellastwoad-ditionalsiteseastofRogersPass.Allofthe13locationswerepositiveforwesternhemlocklooperlarvae.ThehighestlevelswereatPittCreekandBeaverRiver,with105and107larvae,respectively.ThemajorityofsitessamplednorthandeastofRevelstokesawanincreasednumberoflarvaepersite,fromanaverageof3.7in2010,to39.5in2011.Larvaltrendsaresimilartothoseexperiencedonetotwoyearsbeforethelastoutbreakwhichcommencedin2002.TheMinistryexpectstotreatapproximately1,500hectaresofhighvaluecrownforestwith Btk.

Trace western hemlock looper defoliation near Revelstoke, Columbia District.

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A few small patches of western spruce budworm defo-liationweremappedjusteastofEaglePass,alongtheHighway 1 corridor. Budworm populations high enough tocausevisibledefoliationarerareinthisarea,havingbeenrecordedonlytwice,in1976and1990.


After increasing for twoyears, damage levels fell in2011,to1,960hectares.Affectedstandswererecordedin theKinbasketLake,BlaeberryRiver, IllecillewaetRiver,andLakeRevelstokeareas. Mostof theareasshowingdefoliationin2010,showedlittlesignofitin2011.

Gypsy Moth

AsingleEuropeangypsymothwascaughtinaphero-mone trap near Revelstoke Mountain Resort. A delimit-inggridof16trapspersquaremilemaybedeployedatthis location in 2012.

Western spruce budworm east of Three Valley Gap, Columbia District.

Other

Other forest health factors mapped during the surveys were130hectaresofbirch leafminer,12hectaresofbeardamageinplantations,8hectaresoflarchneedleblight,85hectaresofwindthrow,77hectaresofnewslidedamage,30hectaresofwildfire,andninehectaresoffloodingmortality.Serpentineleafminerand/orfoliardiseases were commonly visible during ground surveys on both trembling aspen and cottonwood throughout the District.

rockY MountaIn dIstrIct


Both area affected and intensity of red attack declined between 2010 and 2011. Red attack area fell by nearly 50%,from51,400hectaresto28,730hectares,whilethetheproportionofattackclassedasmoderateorseverefellfrom48%to27%.Mostinfestationsremainsmall,withanaveragepolygonsizeofjust19hectares.Thenumberofadditionalsmallspotinfestationsalsofellby50%from2,366to1,385.DecreasedlevelsofattackwereseenthroughouttheElk,Cross,andLussierRivervalleys,andinKootenayNationalPark.RedattackisstillquitewidespreadinmanyareaseastoftheTrench,andintheBullRiverarea.Populationsappeartobetrendingdownwardssignificantly,withfall2011green:redattackratiosinsuppressionareasaveraging0.2:1.TwomoreBeetle Management Units (Hell-Meachen and Kimberly Watershed) have been upgraded from holding action to suppressionstatus.Itisexpectedthatredattacklevelswillcontinuetodeclinein2012.

Attackinwhitebarkpinewasrelativelylow,with595hectaresofmostlytraceandlightattackmapped.Onlyafewponderosapinewerekilled,nearElko.

Douglas-Fir Beetle

TotalareaaffectedbyDouglas-frbeetledeclined,from1,270hectaresin2010,to715hectaresin2011,mostlyduetoreducedredattackinKootenayNationalPark.AttackcontinuedtodeclineintheKishinenaCreekarea,althoughinfestationshavebeenobservednearby,justovertheU.S.border.AdropinattacknearGrasmeremaybeduetomaskingbylocallyheavywesternsprucebudwormdefoliation.Asignificantnumberofnewspotin-festationswererecordedintheCranbrook,Sparwood,andLussierRiverareas.

22


Spruce Beetle

Spruce beetle continued to be active in the FenwickCreek area,with478 hectares of new damage noted. Stands in this drainage now contain a high proportion of grey stems. At-tackhasexpandedoverthepasttwoyears into the neighbouring North WhiteRiver,whichhaslargeareasofhighhazardsprucestands.


Area affected by western balsam barkbeetledeclinedfrom4,035hectaresin2010,to1,622hectaresin2011.Themajorityoftheattackwasinsmall,scatteredpockets,scatteredthroughouttheDistrict.


Westernsprucebudwormdefoliationwasmappedon7,170hectaresintheFlatheadRiver,WigwamRiver,andGrasmereareas.DefoliationwasfirstvisibleintheFlatheadvalleyin2010,butpositiveidentificationofdefoliatorspecies(westernsprucebudwormortwo-yearcyclebudworm)wasnotpossibleatthetimegroundchecksweremade.In2011,severalfieldchecksandlarvalcollectionsconfirmedthespeciesaswesternsprucebudworm.Generallarval

sampling results (three-tree beat-ings) at the 13 permanent sample sites in the District indicate a general increase in western spruce budworm populations throughout the Rocky Montain Trench.Theproportionofsitespositive for budworm increased from15% in 2010, to 69% in2011,with the highest countsattheGrasmereandElkosites.Eggmasssamplingat38sitesinthe Flathead valley and east of Grasmere indicates continued light to moderate defoliation in 2012.

Larch Needle Blight

Larchneedleblightdamagehasincreased,from1,820hectaresin2010,to10,600hectaresin2011.ThemostwidespreaddamagewasintheFlatheadRiverarea,withaffectedstandsscatteredthroughouttheWigwamRiver,BullRiver,WhiteRiver,St.MaryRiver,Moyie,GoldCreek,andBugabooareas.Awiderangeofageclassesatlowtomidelevationswereaffected.Ingeneral,defoliationnotedin2011wasnotassevereasthatobservedfrom2006to2008,andnotreemortalitywasnoted.

Spruce beetle attack in the North White River, Rocky Mountain District.

Western spruce budworm in the Flathead Valley, Rocky Mountain District.

23


Other

Otherdamageagentsrecordedduringtheaerialsurveysincluded393hectaresofaspenserpentineleafminer,88hectaresofbirchleafminer,304hectaresofbeardamage,145hectaresofwindthrow,71hectaresofslideandavalanchedamage,29hectaresofflooding,and20hectaresofwidlfire.

Duringtheroutinedefoliatorthree-treebeatingsampling,severaladditionaltypesofdamagewerenoted:thinningcrownsofDouglas-firwereseenthroughoutmuchoftheRockyMountainTrench,indicativeofacombinationofabioticevents,overstockingduetofireexclusion,and/orchronicrootdisease;abudfungus,possiblyDichorera gemmicola,killingDouglas-firbudsatSwanseatrailheadandHorsethiefForestServiceRoad;topdiebackofbirchnearParsonsandBrisco;andsuspectedherbicidedamageonyoungDouglas-firatMatthewsCreek.

Enlarged avalanche path, Rocky Mountain District.

kootenaY lake dIstrIct


AlthoughmountainpinebeetleremainedactiveinnearlyallareasoftheDistrict,totalaffectedareadeclinedby60%,from22,000hectaresin2010to8,950hectaresin2011.Thisisthelowestareaineightyears.SomeofthemostsignificantdeclinesinredattackwereseenintheWestArmPark,Riondel,CrawfordBay,andSancaCreekareas.BeetlepopulationsinthesoutheastcorneroftheDistrict,aroundHawkinsCreek,KidCreek,andYahk,remainedlow,whichisofparticularnotegiventheabundanceofhealthy,standinggreenpineinthisarea.

Whitebarkpinemortalityalsodecreased,to118hectares,andonlyafewscatteredponderosapinewerekilled,near Balfour and Creston.

Douglas-Fir Beetle

Douglas-firbeetleactivityhasincreasedslightly,from310hectaresin2010,to361hectaresin2011.Thenumberofsmallspotinfestationsremainednearlyunchanged,at43.AreasofhighestincidencewereintheDavisCreek,MeadowCreek,PoplarCreek,TenderfootCreek,MobbsCreek,andDuncanLakeareas.Afewscatterdattackswere also seen in the Ainsworth and North Shore areas.

24



Westernbalsambarkbeetleattackwasquitescattered,whichistypicalforthisDistrict.ThemostconcentratedareasoftreemortalitywerenearWestArmPark,LaFranceCreek,andSkelly Creek. A total of 960 hectares of trace and light attack was mapped.


642hectaresoftremblingaspenweredefoliatedintheLardeauRiverandTroutLakearea.Groundchecksconfirmedthedamageagentwasaspenserpentineleafminer;notreemortal-ity was seen.

Birch Leaf Miner

Birchleafminerdefoliationwasmappedon577hectares,downfrom1,800hectaresin2010.Most of the affected stands were in the Lardeau River and Duncan River valleys.

Larch Needle Blight

Larchneedleblightdamagewasrecordedon2,420hectares.Thisisasignificantincreasefrom2010levelsof340hectares,althoughitisstillamuchlowerareathanseenduringthepeakyears of 2006-2008. Affected stands were scattered across the southern half of the District. No tree mortality was noted.

Gypsy Moth

AfterasingleEuropeangypsymothwascaughtinapheromonetrapatKokaneeCreekParkin2009,delimitinggridsof16trapspersquaremileweredeployed.Twomoremothswerecaughtin2010,butafterfurtherdelimitinggridsweredeployedin2011,nomoremothshavebeen trapped.

Other

Other forest health agents mapped during the aerial surveys were 90 hectares of slide and avalanchedamage,62hectaresofwindthrow,23hectaresofflooding,and13hectaresofwildfire.

Larch needle blight near Yahk, Kootenay Lake District.

25


tHoMPson okanagan regIon suMMarY

TheThompsonOkanaganportionoftheaerialoverviewsurveyswasconductedbetweenJuly22nd and August 3rd,2011,andrequired53.9hoursofflighttimeover11days.SurveyscoveredtheKamloops,Lillooet,Merritt,andOkanaganTSA’s.Weatherconditionsforthesurveysweregenerallygood,althoughcloudyweathercausedafewdelays.Duetothelowlevelofwildfireactivity,smokedidnotinterferewiththesurveys.AllsurveyswereconductedbyKevinBuxton(MinistryofForests,Lands,andNaturalResourceOperations)andJaniceHodge(JCHForestPestManagement),andutilizedaCessna206aircraft,operatedbyWestairAviationoutofKamloops.

kaMlooPs dIstrIct


Mountainpinebeetleactivityisnowatinsignificantlevels.Only100hectaresofnewredattackweremapped,mostofwhichwasinupperMaidenCreek.Afewscatteredspotinfestationswerealsorecorded,bothinlodgepolepine,andponderosapine.Thisinsectisexpectedtoremainatlowlevelsfortheforeseeablefuture.

Extensive stands of grey lodgepole pine killed by mountain pine beetle near Willowgrouse Lake, north of Kamloops.

Spruce Beetle

Theareainfestedbysprucebeetleremainednearlyunchangedin2011,at2,292hectares.However,theintensityofattackhasincreased-theproportionofaffectedareaclassifiedasmoderateorgreaterhasincreasedfrom40%to76%.InfestationshavemovedintonewstandsintheupperMowCreek-CrissCreekareaafterdepletingmostof the suitable host near Porcupine Ridge. Infestations around Sun Peaks and Cahilty Creek continue to infest newstands,althoughinmanycasessmaller,lesssuitabletreesarebeingattackedaslargertreeshavealreadybeen killed over the previous several years.


Westernbalsambarkbeetleattackremainedcommoninseveralareas,especiallytheDunnPeak,BarriereRiver,ChuChuaCreek,LouisCreek,andWentworthCreekareas.Atotalof13,300hectaresweremapped,mostofwhichwasclassifiedastrace.


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Douglas-fir Beetle

DuetotheDistrict’saggressivetraptreeprogramandaconcertedeffort on the part of salvage harvest clients to harvest as many accessible redandgreenattackcenters aspossible,Douglas-firbeetle activity has been successfully maintained at manageable levels.AcrosstheDistrictasawhole,attacklevelsremainednearlyunchangedfrom2010levels,at557hectares.However,thetotalnumberofinfestationsremainshigh,withover430separatepoly-gons and spot infestations mapped. Red attack was widespread acrossmostoftheDistrict,withlocalincreasesintheBlackPines,LouisCreek,andAgateBayRoadareas.

AsmallprojectdesignedtoprotecttheDouglas-firoverstoryofaspecial interest area near Georges Creek was successfully imple-mented over two years (2010-2011). In 2010 conventional trap treesandfunnel trapswereutilizedaroundtheperimeterof thesite.Thetraptreesandoverflowattacktreeswereremovedinthefall. In year two (2011) MCH repellent was deployed in a 20 metre gridthoughouttheforest,and8setsoffunnelstraps(threefunneltraps per set) were deployed around the perimeter of the site and in adjacent cut blocks. Follow-up monitoring shows very good results with no evidence of beetle attack in the stand.


Westernsprucebudwormdamagedeclineddramatically,partlyduetoacoldspringandpoortree-larvaldevel-opmentsynchrony,whichresultedinhighlarvalmortality.Visiblydefoliatedareafellfrom116,255hectaresin2010,tojust17,110hectaresin2011.Populationsdidremainhighinseveralareas,however,includingtheTranquilleRiver,WatchingCreek,LacduBois,InksLake,PaulLake,DeadmanRiver,andJamiesonCreekareas.An aerial B.t.k sprayprogramareahelpedtolimitdefoliationtolowlevelsintheSabistonCreekarea,wherebudworm populations were forecast to be high.

Eggmasssamplingconductedinthefallof2011 indicate that populations will increase againinseveralareas,includingInksLake,CherryCreek,TranquilleRiver,WatchingCreek,andMonteCreek.Populationsshouldremain low in the Scottie Creek and Deadman River areas.

Douglas-fir bark beetles cover the bottom of a hard hat – example of trapping in a special interest area near Georges Creek, Kamloops District.

B.t.k. spray operations in the Kamloops District.

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AreadefoliatedbyDouglas-fir tussockmothdeclinedsignificantly, fromjustover14,000hectaresin2010,to5,430hectaresin2011.Thiswasduetoacombinationofaggressivesprayprogramsoverthepastseveralyears,andthenaturaldeclineseenattheendoftheoutbreakcycle.DamagewasstillextensiveintheHatCreek,CacheCreek,andBattleCreekareas,withsomewhatlowerlevel,scattereddefoliationintheDeadmanRiver,SabistonCreek,andVenablesValleyarea.Inadditiontothecurrentdefoliation,treemortalitywasmappedinareaswheretheoutbreakhasended,andtodate7,740hectaresofDouglas-firhassustainedsomeleveloftreemortality.Thisfigureisexpectedtoriseoverthenext1-2yearsastherestoftheareareachestheendoftheoutbreakcycle.TheseheavilyimpactedstandswereseenthroughoutthePritchard,Barnharvale,CampbellCreek,HeffleyCreek,CherryCreek,Savona,BarnesCreek,DeadmanRiverareas.

AnaerialsprayprogramconductedonJune23-24,treated5,770hectaresin11separateblockswith B.t.k.(Foray48B)intheDeadmanRiver,BackValley,CacheCreek,andVeasyLakeareas.Resultswerepositive,withgoodpopulationreductionandfoliageprotectioninlargerblocks and in areas with comparatively low levels of previous defoliation. Some smaller spray blocks and stands with higher levels of previous defoliation suffered tree mortality despite treatment.Only5%ofthetreatedareasshowedcurrentdefoliationvisiblefromtheair,andanother10%oftreatedareassufferedtreemortality.

Eggmassgroundsurveyswereconductedinthefall.Somelightdefoliationmaybeseenin2012intheHatCreekandcacheCreekareas,withafewsmallpocketsofmoderatetoseveredefoliationnearVeasyLakeandtheupperDeadmanRiver.However,evidenceofnuclearpolyhedrosisvirus(NPV)wasfoundinmostareassampled,andtussockmothpopulationsmay decline naturally in the spring.

Douglas-fir killed by Douglas-fir tussock moth, near Campbell Creek Road, Kamloops District.


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Aspenserpentineleafminerdamagewasmappedon3,225hectaresintheLemieuxCreek,TaweelLake,EakinCreek,andDarlingtonCreekareas.Mostofthedefoliationwasclassifiedaslightormoderatebecasueofthescatterednatureofaspeninthesestands,despitetheoftenheavydefoliationofindividualtrees.

Birch Leaf Miner

Birchleafminerlightlydefoliated885hectaresofpaperbirch,scatteredthroughtheLouisCreek,FadearCreek,and Gorman Lake areas.

Pine Needle Sheath Miner

PineneedlesheathminerdefoliatedthreeseparatelodgepolepineplantationsnearO’ConnorLakeandJamiesonCreek.Minimaltreemortalityhasresultedsofar,howeverrepeateddefoliationcanleadtosignificantgrowthlosses.Thisisthefirstoccurrenceofthisinsectatdamaginglevelsinmanyyears.ModeratelevelsofparasitismwerenoticedintheO’ConnorLakeplantationswhentheareawasgroundchecked.

Pine needle sheath miner, Zellaria haimbachi. Top left: defoliated lodgepole pine stands near O’Connor Lake, Kamloops District.Top right: feeding damage on new growth.Bottom left: adult moth resting on foliage.

Other

Other damaging agents mapped during the aerial surveys were 430 hectares of forest tent caterpillar near Harper Creek,AdamsLake,andLouisCreek,25hectaresofaspendeclinenearMaidenCreekandDroppingwaterCreek,twohectaresofbeardamagenearAdamsLake,16hectaresofArmillariarootdiseaseeastofPinantanLake,and44hectaresofwildfire.Discolouredwesternredcedarswereobservedon78hectaresintheHarperCreekarea;no ground checks were performed but the foliage discolouration was most likely a response to climate conditions. AforesterworkingfortheAdamsLakeIndianBandobservedanunidentifiedsawfly(Neodiprion spp.) defoliating a nine year old lodgepole pine plantation near Aylmer Lake. Infestations of this type tend to last one-two years without causing tree mortality.

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Headwaters dIstrIct


Mountainpinebeetlepopulationshavecontinuedtodecline,tojust873hectares.TheonlysignificantareasofattackinmaturelodgepolepinewereintheupperNorthThompsonRiver,and in the upper Adams River valley near Mica Lake. Several lodgepole pine plantations in theAllanCreekandupperNorthThompsonRiverareas(56hectares)showedlightattack.WesternwhitepinewasattackedintheupperCayenneCreekandAdamsRiverareas,althoughmortality was only at trace levels.


Area affected by western balsam bark beetle wasmappedon 39,912 hectares in 2011, atotal that has remained nearly unchanged for the past several years. Attack was scattered acrossmosthighelevationareasoftheDistrict,especiallytheRaftRiver,BattleMountain,andT.F.L.18areas.

Douglas-fir Beetle

Douglas-fir beetle continued to be active aroundVavenby andMountMacLennan,while attack rates declined in the Mahood Lake and Adams Lake areas. Most of the tree mortality was in small spot infestations (47 separatespots),ratherthaninlargerpolygons(only 16 hectares in two polygons).


Small areas of defoliation were recorded near Hobson Lake,Azure Lake,Albreda river,CanvasCreek,ManteauCreek, SerpentineCreek,andNorthBlueRiver.Atthesixper-manent sampling sites in theDistrict, adultmoth catches were up slightly (see the Special Projects section).The highest trap catcheswere at Murtle Lake Road and Mud Lake. Three-treebeatinglarvalcollectionincreasedslightlyatthreesites.Thetrappingsystemisnot yet fully calibrated so it is not yet clear whether 2012 will mark the start of another outbreak cycle, yet all indications are thatin specific geographic areas 2012 could bethefirstyearofsignificantdefoliation.Eggsampling is currently being carried out at all six trapping locations, the results ofwhichwill give population and defoliation estimates for 2012 and allow for strategic placement of spray blocks.

Mountain pine beetle attack in a young lodgepole pine stand near Allan Creek, Headwaters District.

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Aspenserpentineleafminerpopulationsremainedhigh,withdefoliationbeingmappedon29,540hectares.ThisinsectispresentatlowlevelsinmostaspenstandsintheDistrict;howeveronly heavier or more widespread defoliation that is typically mapped. Defoliation was most commonintheWellsGrayPark,RaftRiver,MadRiver,AvolaandAdamsRiverareas.

Forest Tent Caterpillar

Aforest tent caterpillar infestationcausedmoderatedefoliationof805hectaresofmixedbirchandaspenatCayenneCreek.Littlepermanentdamageisexpected,howeverpopula-tions have been increasing in nearby areas over the past two years and more defoliation may occur in 2012.

Two-Year Cycle Budworm

2011wasan“off”yearinthefeedingcycleofthisinsect,andnodefoliationwasrecorded.

Dothistroma Needle Blight

Dothistroma needle blight infection was visible on 72 hectares in the District. Four plantations wereaffectednearTumTumLake,twoalongtheRaft-MoillietForestServiceRoad,andonealong the Vavenby-Adams Forest Service Road (Road 2).

Other

Other forest health factors in the District included 80 hectares of western spruce budworm southofClearwaterLake,26hectaresofsprucebeetlenorthofAzureLake,45hectaresofbirchleafminerneartheClearwaterRiver,andminorareasofArmillariarootdisease,bearfeedingdamage,wildfire,windthrow.Discolouredwesternredcedarswereobservedon751hectaresnearGraffunderLake,MadRiver,RaftRiver,MannCreek,andAdamsRiver;noground checks were performed but the foliage discolouration was most likely a response to climate conditions.

Dothistroma needle blight damage in a lodgepole pine plantation near TumTum Lake, Headwaters District.

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cascades dIstrIct


Red attack continued to decline sharply throughout the Cascades District due to a combination of aggressive harvesting,hostdepletionandanaturalcollapseoflocalpopulations.Areaaffectedwasdownby70%from2010levelsto42,078hectares.Thisrepresentsa90%declinefromthelevelsseenduring2007-2009,whentheareaaffectedpeakedatover370,000hectares.AttackinlodgepolepineisrareinthenorthernhalfoftheMerrittTSAandwasonlymappedinafewscatteredpocketsinthesouthernhalfoftheLillooetTSA.AttackisstillfairlywidespreadacrossmuchofthenorthernandwesternLillooetTSAbuthasbecomemorescatteredasitcontinuestobepushedintosmallandlesssuitablehostmaterial.Likewise,inmostareassouthoftheSimilkameenRiverandwestandsouthofPrinceton,attackisstillcommon,butincreasinglyscattered.ThemostactiveareasofnewredattackwereinthevicinityofSiwashCreek,RedCreek,McNultyCreekandCoquihallaLakeswhereattack continues into the Coast Region. Attack in young stands was limited to 141 hectares in the Spius Creek and Hurley River areas.

Attack inponderosapinehasalsodeclined, fromover19,000hectaresin2010,to3,700hectaresin2011.Whitebarkpineisstillbeingkilled,butlevelsarelow,withjust232hectaresrecorded.

Douglas-fir Beetle

Douglas-firbeetleremainedwidespreadinhistoricallocationsintheLillooetTSAwithmostnewattacklocatedintheYalakom,SetonLake,DuffyCreek,Lillooet,FountainValley,FraserRiverandMurrayCreek areas. Populations remain low in most of the MerrittTSA, although some increaseswere seennearSkuhunCreek andEastgate. Affected areawasup,from368hectares,to658hectares,andthenumber of additional spot infestations remained high,at171.

Spruce Beetle

Totalareaaffectedwas467hectares.AttacklevelshavecontinuedtodeclineintheLillooetTSA,withonlyafewsmallareasdetectednearDuffyLake,SiwheCreek,CinquefoilCreek,andYalakomRiver.ScatteredpocketsofattackcontinuedtobemappedinthePlacerCreek,PasaytenRiver,andYoungCreek,althoughitismostlyconfinedtohigherelevationdrainages.AfewadditionalsmallareasofgreenattackwerelocatedduringgroundsurveysintheCopperCreekarea,butthesewerenotvisiblefromtheair.


Incidenceofwesternbalsambarkbeetleremainedunchanged,at4,480hectares.Nearlyallattackwasclassi-fiedastrace.MostoftheaffectedstandswereintheProspectCreek,SpiusCreek,MakaCreek,SteffensCreek,Stein River areas.

Mixed-age lodgepole pine stand south of Merritt. Note that older and larger trees have been killed by mountain pine beetle, while most smaller trees remain unattacked.


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WesternsprucebudwormpopulationsdeclinedacrossmostoftheeastandcentralportionsoftheMerrittTSA,resultingina64%dropindefoliatedarea,to52,420hectares.Theextentoftheoutbreakdeclined,butthepopula-tiondensityincreasedinseveralareasaffected,resultingintheareaclassifiedasmoderateorseveredefoliationincreasingfrom16,440hectares(11%ofthetotal)to18,375hectares(35%ofthetotal).Themostheavilydefoli-atedareaswereintheGunLake,NsatiscouLake,SpiusCreek,SwakumMountain,ClappertonCreek,JesseCreek,andSkoonkaCreekareas.Aggressivesprayprogramshavetreated28,790hectaresofhighprioritystandswithB.t.k. (Foray 48B) overthepasttwoyears;resultshavebeenverypositive,withverylittledefoliationoccurringinstandssprayedineither2011,or2010.

Eggmasssurveysconductedinthefallof2011werefocusedonareasshowingcurrentdamage,andotherhighprioritystands.Heavydefoliationisexpectedin2012,fromNicolaLake,throughMerritt,toSpencesBridge,andintheGuichonCreekandKingsvaleareas.ModeratedefoliationcanbeexpectedinthePrincetonandGunLakeareas.Approximately13,000hectaresofhighpriority,heavilyimpactedstandsarebeingconsideredforspraying in 2012.


Totaldefoliatedarearemainednearlyunchanged,at1,027hect-ares. Populations declined along the Fraser River near Leon CreekandWatsonBarCreek,andalongPavilionLake.NewdefoliationwasseennorthofSpencesBridge,andnearPaviliontownsite,SallusCreek,andalongtheFraserRiverbetweenFoun-tain Valley and McKay Creek. Most new defoliation occurred instandswhichwereadjacenttoareasofhistoricdefoliation,butnotpreviouslyaffectedduringthisoutbreak.Approximately650hectaresnearMarbleCanyon,PavilionLake,andPaviliontownsite were treated with B.t.k.inJune.AlocalizedareanearSkyBlueResort sufferedadditional treemortality,where theB.t.k. alonewasnot sufficient to reduce larvalpopulations tobelow damaging thresholds (see Special Projects section).

Results of the fall 2011 egg mass surveys predict little to no defoliation in 2012. Evidence of nuclear polyhedrosis viruswas also found in several locations which should further reduce tussock moth populations.

Aspen Decline

Symptomsofaspendeclinewereobservedon270hectaresinseverallocationsaroundMiddayCreek,NicolaLake,SwakumMountain,GlimpseLake,andDouglasLake.Mostaffectedstandssufferedbranchandtopdie-back,andmoderatelevelsoftreemortality.

Other

Otherforesthealthagentsdetectedduringtheaerialsurveyswere35hectaresofsatinmothnearMakaCreek,136hectaresofwildfire,22hectaresofslideandavalanchedamage,andfourhectaresofwindthrow.

Douglas-fir tussock moth defoliation near Watson Bar Creek, Cascades District.

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okanagan sHuswaP dIstrIct


Totalredattackareacontinuedtodecline,to44,740hectares.Thisisdownfrom82,590hectaresin2010and135,913hectaresin2009.Attackintensitywaslowinmoststands,withonly15%ofaffectedareaclassified asmoderate or greater. A combinationofsalvageharvesting,hostdepletioninportionsoftheDistrictnorthandwestofVernon,andpoorlysynchronizedbeetleflightscausedbycoolsummerweatherhasledtothisgeneraldecline.Despitethis,infestationsarestillwidespreadintheTroutCreek,EneasLakes,Aberdeen Plateau,MissionCreek,westKettleRiver,andHydraulicLakeareas.Sev-erallodgepolepineplantationsnearJackpineFlats,SandbergCreek,andtheAberdeenPlateausufferedadditionalbeetleattack,althoughlevelstendedtobelight.Thenumberofsmallscatteredpolygonsandspot infestations continued to increase in the south-eastcorneroftheDistrict,aroundNaramata,PentictonCreek,andTFL59.Mountainpinebeetlepopulationscouldreboundquicklyifmorefavourableweatherconditionsoccuroverthenextfewsummers.

Mountainpinebeetlecontinuedtoattackponderosapine,alongthewestsideofthemainOkanaganvalley,andintheGlenmore,Kelowna,Vernon,andDeepCreekareas. Areaaffectedwaslessthan1,100hectares,withanother 235 spot infestations.

Douglas-fir Beetle

Althoughareaaffectedinlargerpolygonsfellfrom531hectaresin2010,to288hectaresin2011,attackwasstillcommon,withnearly300separateinfestationsmapped.SeveralnewinfestationsweremappednearCherryville,andactiveinfestationscontinuedtobeseenthroughouttheShuswap,ChaseCreek,Westwold,Falkland,MabelLake,andAshnolaRiverareas.FourdaysofdetailedaerialsurveysforDouglas-firbeetlewereconductedbytheDistrictinlateJulyfollowedbystrategicgroundassessments.Numerousadditionalepicentersweredetectedinthe Falkland/Adelphi Creek areas.


Overallareaaffectedfellslightly,to53,040hectares.ThereweresomedeclinesseenintheParkMountainandPearsonCreekareas,butattackremainswidespreadinthePukeashunMountain,GrizzlyLake,HuntersRange,HarrisCreek,SpaHills,WhitemanCreek,andWinnifredCreekareas.

Spruce Beetle

Sprucebeetlepopulationsremainedlow,withonly18hectaresofnewattackrecordedin2011,intheAshnolaRiver area.

Scattered mountain pine beetle attack near Bruer Creek, Okanagan Shuswap District.


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PopulationsexpandedandintensifiedthroughoutthesouthOkanagan,asthetotaldefoliatedareaincreasedfrom40,900hectaresin2010,to77,300hectaresin2011.Theareaclassifiedasmoderateorseveredefoliationin-creasedfrom1,800hectares(4%oftotalarea)to37,430hectares(48%oftotalarea).Budflushandandinsectdevelopmentwasmoresychronizedin2011,resultingindistinctiveuppercrowndefoliation,thereforemakingaerialdetectionmorereliable. ThemostseveredefoliationoccurredaroundBlueGrouseMountain,ShingleCreek,MarronValley,OrofinoMountain,MountKobau,InkaneepCreek,andNaramata.ScatttereddefoliationwasalsorecordedaroundWestwold,Falkland,ChaseCreek,Coldstream,andArmstrong,butdamagewaslight.WidelyscatteredpocketsofdefoliationwereseenthroughouttheSugarLake,MabelLake,andThreeValleyGapareas,manyofwhichwereinstandshavingnopreviousrecordofdefoliation.Douglas-firstandsinthisareaaretypicallyisolated,andrestrictedtodrierhillsidesandridges.Eggmasssamplingcarriedoutinthefallof2011at113sitesindicatedthatdefoliationintensitywillcontinuetobehighin2012,with65%ofsitespredictingmoderate to severe defoliation (see Special Projects section).

Aerial application of B.t.k.on5,130hectaressuccessfully reduced larvalpopulationsand limiteddefoliationnearFishLakeRoad,AgurLake,andPeachlandCreek.Eggmasssamplingresultsindicateverylowbudwormpopulationsintheseareasin2012.Sprayoperationswillbeexpandedin2012,withupto30,000hectaresofhigh priority stands scheduled for treatment.

Severe defoliation of Douglas-fir by western spruce budworm in the south Okanagan Valley.

Light western spruce budworm defoliation on a dry hillside on the west side of Sugar Lake. This stand has no previous record of

budworm defoliation.


Areaaffectedincreasedslightly,to1,550hectares.NewinfestationswererecordednearCarrsLandingandBlueMountain.Defoliationwaswidespread,butcausedminimaldamage(notreemortality)tostandsimpacted.De-spiteinitiallyhighpopulationsnearPeachlandCreek,defoliationwaslimitedduetoaerialapplicationof B.t.k. on 565 hectares. Results of ground sampling carried out in the fall indicate that no defoliation will occur in these sprayedareasin2012.Approximately430hectaresoftreemortalityhasresultedfromthisoutbreakcyclethathasnowcollapsedinthesouthOkanagan,Similkameen,andAshnolaareas.

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A few small patches of light defoliation occurred near CherryRidge,VigueCreekandGreenbushLake,total-ling77hectares.Threetreebeatingsatthetenperma-nent sampling siteswere all positive for larvae,withhighnumbersattheGreenbushLakeandThreeValleyGap sites. Adult moth catches at the sites were highest attheGreenbushLake,KingfisherCreek,NoisyCreekandShuswapRiverEcologicalReservesites.Increaseddefoliation may occur in 2012 in these areas.


Defoliation of lodgepole pine plantations caused by pine needle sheath miner (Zellaria haimbachi) was mapped on240hectares,intheGlenedenFire,CharcoalCreek,HaddoRoad,andBelgoCreekareas.Damagewaslighttomoderateandnotreemortalityisexpectedaspopu-lations usually collapse within one to two years due to high levels of parasitism.


Incidence of aspen serpentine leaf miner decreased from4,380hectaresin2010,to1,700hectaresin2011.DefoliationwaslimitedtotheReineckerCreek,EquesisCreek and Reinecker Creek areas.

Larch Casebearer

Larch casebearer defoliation was detected in the Oka-nagan for thefirst time inmany years. 78 hectaressuffered light to moderate defoliated around the 3-4 kilometermarkon theKingEdwardMain, southeastof Coldstream.


TheforesttentcaterpillaroutbreakintheRossCreekareadeclinedinoverallareaaffected,to1,425hectares.Topandbranchdiebackofaffectedtrees(aspen,cot-tonwood,andbirch)isbecomingvisiblefromtheair.Smallpatchesofnewdefoliationwererecordednearby,above Scotch Creek and along Five Mile Creek.

Dothistroma Needle Blight

Dothistroma needle blight infection of lodgepole pine plantations was visible on 173 hectares. Affected stands wereintheMonasheeCreek,upperCherryCreek,TsuiusCreek,CavanaughCreekandKidneyLakeareas.

Other

Other forest health agents mapped during the aerial surveyswere235hectaresoflarchneedleblight,214hectaresofbirchleafminer,76hectaresofArmillaria rootdisease,35hectaresofbeardamage,34hectaresofaspendecline,54hectaresofwildfire,and18hectaresoffloodingdamage.

An assessment of dead and dying trees near Sugar Lake identifiedArmillariarootdiseaseandDouglas-firbeetle.District staff conducted Stand Development Monitoring surveysonfiveplantationsin2011.

Larch casebearer damage, King Edward Main area.

Forest tent caterpillar defoliation in an aspen - cottonwood - birch stand near Ross Creek. Some

top and branch dieback is noticeable.

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carIBoo regIon suMMarY

TheCaribooportionoftheaerialoverviewsurveyswasconductedbetweenJuly11th and August 8th,andrequired28flightsand125.8hoursofflighttime.Conditionsforthesurveysweregenerallygoodwithfewdelays.TwocontractcrewssurveyedtheareaencompassedbytheQuesnel,CentralCariboo,100MileHouseandChilcotinForestDistricts.ThesurveysalsocoveredtheRobsonValleyTSAandsmallportionsoftheNorthIsland-CentralCoast,Kalum,SunshineCoast,PrinceGeorge,andVanderhoofForestDistricts.OnecrewcomprisedofDonWright and Darryl Wright surveyed the east half of the Region. A second crew comprised of JoeCorteseandBobEricksonsurveyedthewesthalfoftheRegion.AircraftwerecharteredfromWhiteSaddleAirServices,LawrenceAviation,CaribooAir,Daviation,andLakesDistrictAirService,andutilizedCessna180,185,and206aircraft,bothonandofffloats.

Quesnel dIstrIct


Newredattackwaslimitedto1,070hectaresoftraceandlightattackintheupperBaezaekoRiver area. Beetle populations have completely collapsed in all other areas of the District.

Spruce Beetle

Spruce beetle activity remained low. 178 hectares of light and trace mortality was recorded nearNylandLake,BowronLakes,andDesertersCreek.

Douglas-fir Beetle

Douglas-firbeetlepopulationscontinuedtodecline.267hectaresofnewattack,andanad-ditional85spotinfestations,weremappedintheNazkoRiverandVictoriaCreek-SwiftRiverareas,andalongtheFraserRivernorthoftheCottonwood-Fraserconfluence.Groundsurveysrevealed several pockets of very severe attack along the Fraser River.


Almost all balsam bark beetle activity continued to be east of the Quesnel River. Most of the 12,620hectaresofattackwerewithinTFL52,andinBowronLakesPark.

Subalpine fir stand attacked by western balsam bark beetle.

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Areadefoliatedbywesternsprucebudwormincreasedbyover75%,to17,785hectares.DefoliationextendedalongbothsidesoftheFraserRiver,fromthesouthernDistrictboundary,asfarnorthasMoffattLakeRoad.Treatmentof6,200hectaresofDouglas-firstandswithB.t.k.inJunereduceddamageintensityonbothsidesoftheFraserRiver,andasaresultlessthan1,000hectaresofforestwasmoderatelyorseverelydefoliated.Budwormpopulationsnowappeartobedecreasing,withonlyoneofelevensamplingsitespredictingheavydefoliationin2012.


DefoliationbyforesttentcaterpillarintheQuesnelareaincreasedfrom34,860hectaresin2010,to40,100hectaresin 2011. Nearly half of this area suffered moderate or severe defoliation. Ground checks indicated that forest tentcaterpillarpopulationswerebeginningtodecline,andaspenserpentineleafminerwasbecomingmoreac-tive.Venturiatwigblightwasalsonotedinapproximately5%oftheaffectedarea.Thiscombinationofheavyforesttentcaterpillardamageoverseveralyears,andadditionaldamagefromtheleafminerandVenturia,maybe leading to aspen decline symptoms such as dead tops and branches. Damage was especially severe in stands east of Quesnel.


In addition to the increasing levels of aspen serpentine leaf miner seen during ground checks of forest tent cat-erpillarinfestationsnearQuesnel,anadditional3,316hectaresofdefoliationvisiblefromtheairwasmappedaround Bowron Lake.


ApineneedlesheathminerinfestationwasobservedinalodgepolepineplantationalongGarnetRoad,southwestof Quesnel. Defoliation was moderate and covered 112 hectares.

Other

Otherforesthealthagentsrecordedduringtheaerialsurveyswere35hectaresofflooding,27hectaresofwindthrow,and20hectaresofwidlfire.

central carIBoo dIstrIct


TheonlymountainpinebeetleactivityintheDistrictwasathighelevationsinthesouthwestcorneroftheDistrict.Scattered,lightmortalitywasmappedon3,315hectaresintheupperChurnCreek,LoneValleyCreek,andDashCreek. Some widely scattered small pockets of attack were also mapped in Big Creek Park. Low severity attack inyounglodgepolepinewasmappedon512hectaresaroundKosterCreek,DogCreekandGaspardCreek.


WesternbalsambarkbeetleactivityexpandedintheMackayRiverandSellerCreekareas,andasaresulttotalareaaffectedincreasedslightlyto12,623hectares.Nearlyalloftheattackwasclassifiedastrace.


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Spruce Beetle

Sprucebeetleactivitydeclinedsignificantly,from16,520hectaresin2010, to4,860hectaresin2011. MostoftheremainingattackwasintheMackayRiver,NiagaraCreek,upperHorseflyRiver,andWarttigLakeareas.

Douglas-fir Beetle

Attack declined in several of the larger patches near DogCreekandGaspardCreek, leadingtoadecreasein overall area affected, from670 hectares in 2010,to285hectares in2011. However,manynewattackcenters were mapped across the central regions of the District,especiallyaroundSkeltonandBuxtonCreeks,which led to an increase in the number of spot infesta-tionsofover70%,to586.Walk-throughassessmentsofthelarge2010firesintheDistrictindicatethattheextentandseverityofDouglas-firbeetleattackishighwithpopulationslikelytoexpandsignificantlyin2012.Theseareaswerenotdetectedintheovervieworde-tailedflightsbecausealltheattackisstillinfirekilled/stressed trees.


Afterdeclining in2010,defoliated area increasedbyovertwo-fold,to305,715hectares.Expansionswereseen in theRiskeCreek,MeldrumCreek,ChilcotinRiver,GaspardCreek,ChurnCreek,DogCreek andAlkaliCreekareas.Justover38,000hectaresaroundWilliamsLake,SodaCreek,BlueLake,McLeeseLakeand the west side of Chimney Lake were moderately or severelydefoliated.13,880hectaresweretreatedwithB.t.k.inJune,whichreduceddamagelevelsnearSoapLake,TillLake,BaldMountain,FarwellCanyon,WordCreek,andtheeastsideofChimneyLake.Populationsareexpectedtoremainhighin2012,especiallyaroundAlkali Lake, ChimneyLake, RiskeCreek, FarwellCreek,GaspardCreek,StingLakeandBrighamLake.

Trembling aspen showing thin foliage after several years of serpentine leaf miner

defoliation. Big Lake, Central Cariboo District.

Douglas-fir stand heavily defoliated by western spruce budworm near McCleese Lake, Central Cariboo District.


Aspen serpentine leaf miner continued to be active acrossmuchoftheDistrict.However,duetogenerallylowdamagelevels,only3,940hectaresofdefoliationweremapped during the aerial surveys,mostly nearTisdallLake,BlackCreekRanch,McCauleyLake,andBig Lake.


Defoliation due to western hemlock looper was observed on5,775intheEastArmQuesnelLakearea.Damageoccurred in several locations along the south edge and eastendofthelake.Eggsamplingwascarriedoutinthefallat45sites,20ofwhichwerepositiveforeggs.Moderate to severe defoliation is expected atTasseLake,HenIngramLake,KillDogCreek,andBoulderyCreekin2012.Upto10,000hectaresmaybetreatedwith B.t.k. in 2012.

Other

Other forest health factors mapped during the aerial sur-veys were 460 hectares of redbelt near Lone Cabin Creek andKosterCreek,300hectaresofwildfire,31hectaresofwindthrowand1.5hectaresoffloodingdamage.

39


cHIlcotIn dIstrIct


Thetotalareaofnewredattackdroppedby90%forthesecondconsecutiveyear,to4,300hectares.Thisisdownfrom103,870hectaresin2010andthepeakofalmost 1 million hectares in 2009. Infestations have almost completely collapsed,with the exceptionof afew higher elevation areas areas around the south end of TasekoLake,GunnValley,thesoutheastendofChilkoLake and Ottarasko Creek. Infestations in other areas have been reduced mainly to spot infestations (371 were recorded;Table4). Beetlepopulationshavedeclineddue to high overwinter mortality and fewer beetles im-migratingfromadjacentoutbreakareas, rather thanalack of susceptible host material.


Westernbalsambarkbeetle populations are confinedto the southern high elevation portions of the District. 5,030hectaresoftraceattackweremappedintheTasekoLake,ChilcoLake,HomathkoRiver, andKlinakliniRiver areas.

Douglas-fir Beetle

Douglas-firbeetlepopulationsremainedlow,with1,820hectares affected in patches and 213 spot infestations. Attackwas recorded throughout theChilcotinRiver,lowerChilankoRiver,TatlayokoLake,andlowerChilkoLakeareas. TheAlexisCreekarea sawa significantincrease in the number of small spot infestations. Walk-throughassessmentsof the large2009and2010firesintheDistrictindicatethatthereweresomeextremelyconcentratedpocketsofattackassociatedwiththefiresandtheirextendedperimeters. Populationsarelikelytoexpandsignificantlyin2012.Theseareaswerenotdetectedintheoverviewordetailedflightsbecausealltheattackisstillinfirekilled/stressedtrees.


Western spruce budworm populations increased and expandedin2010resultinginanincreaseinareadefoli-atedin2011.Affectedareawasupto34,000hectares,with4,765hectaresmoderatelyorseverelydefoliated.Mostof the increaseswere in theAlexisCreek,BullCanyon,YoungRoad,LeesCorner,HainesCreekandZenzacoCreekareas. Windthrow on the northern edge of the 2010

Chilko Lake fire.

Extensive stands of lodgepole pine killed by mountain pine beetle in the Chilcotin District.


Aspen serpentine leaf miner defoliation reached visible levels on3,100hectares. Affected standswere scat-teredintheKlinakliniRiver,MosleyCreek,TatlayokoLake,andAnahimLakeareas. Standsinmanyotherareas continue to be affected but at levels too low to be visible from the air.

Other

Severalotherforesthealthfactorsofminorconsequenceweremappedduringtheaerialsurveys.Theseincluded28 hectares of forest tent caterpillar east of Anahim Lake,85hectaresofredbeltdamageintheKlinakliniRiverarea,90hectaresofwidelyscatteredavalanchedamage,77hectaresoffloodingmortality,56hectaresoflandslide damage and very small areas of spruce beetle and engraver (Ips) beetle. 18 hectares of windthrow were mapped along the northern edge of the 2010 ChilkoLakefireinwhatappearedtobefiredamagedlodgepole pine.


40

100 MIle House forest dIstrIct


Mountain pine beetle was mapped on just 306 hectares in 2011.Ofthis,only172hectareswereinmaturelodge-polepine,nearlyallofwhichwasinafewscattered,traceand light pockets near the south end of the Marble Range. Forty-two hectares were in lodgepole pine plantations nearPigeonCreekandMeadowLake,and91hectareswereinponderosapineinEdgeHillsPark.

Douglas-fir Beetle

Douglas-firbeetleactivitycontinuedtodropintheBigBar,CanoeCreek,andChinaGulchareas,whereonlyafew occasional spot infestations were mapped. Beetle is stillactivearoundLacLaHache,CanimLake,andLoonLake although most of the attack remained in smaller scattered spots. Only 184 hectares of patch infestations weremapped,withanother213spotinfestations.

Spruce Beetle

Afteralargeincreaseinsprucebeetleactivityin2010,both the area affected and infestation severity have declined.Newattackfellfrom9,990hectaresto1,700hectares,whiletheproportionofareaclassifiedasmod-erateorseverefellfrom60%to16%.Alloftheinfesta-tionswereinthenortheastportionoftheDistrict,nearBossCreek,HendrixMountainandDeceptionCreek.


Westernbalsambarkbeetlewasmappedon5,280hect-ares in theHendrixLake,DeceptionCreek,SpanishCreek,andWindyMountainareas.AttackintensityhasbeencomparativelyhighinthisDistrictwithover30%ofallinfestationsbeingclassifiedaslightormoderate.


BudwormpopulationsexpandedaroundDogCreekandCanoeCreek,resultinginanincreaseinareaaffectedof 60% to62,265hectares. Althoughdamage levelsremainedlowinmostaffectedstandsin2011,popula-tionsareexpectedtoincreasesignificantlyaroundDogCreekandCanoeCreekin2012,andmoderatetoseveredefoliation may occur. Population levels should remain loweraroundLoonLake,100MileHouseandLacLaHache.


After two years of high populations across the Fraser RiverintheLillooetTSA,severalsmallpocketsofde-foliationweremappedinthe100MileHouseDistrict,intheChinaGulchandBigBarareas.TheinfestationsnearChinaGulcharethefurthestnorthrecordofDouglas-firtussockmothoutbreak,althoughmothshavebeenprevi-ously trapped in the area. A total of 360 hectares were defoliated,intenpatches.

Pheromone traps were deployed in 6-trap clusters at 30 sites.Theaverageadultmothcatchpertrapremainedlow,at1.6.AfewsitessuchastheAlkaliLakesitethathad an average 18moths per trap, recorded slightlyhighercatchesrecordedslightlyhighercatches,butnonethat indicated outbreak populations.

Other

Other forest health factors mapped during the aerial surveys were 990 hectares of aspen serpentine leaf miner defoliation aroundBridgeLake andDekaLake, 52hectares of Armillariarootdisease,44hectaresofaspendeclinearoundLacLaHache,275hectaresofwildfire(mostlyinonefirenearChinaGulch),118hectaresofwindthrownearMt.Timothy,and9hectaresofroadsaltdamage at 108 Mile Ranch.

Grey lodgepole pine stands south of Elbow Lake, near the 100 Mile House District -

Kamloops District boundary.

41


forest HealtH - sPecIal Projects

2011 western sPruce BudworM PrograM suMMarY rePort

Background

The2011westernsprucebudwormsprayprogramsawatotalof50,763hectaresofinfestedDouglas-firfor-est treated with Foray 48B (Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki,P.C.P.No.24977,orB.t.k.) in the South Area (ThompsonOkanaganandCaribooRegions).A661hectareareawasre-sprayedintheSabiston-RedLakearea(BlockK1,Table1)bringingthetotalareasprayedforbudwormto51,424hectares(123,418litresB.t.k.). Foray 48B was applied at 2.4 litres per hectare.

WesternAerialApplicationsLtd.conductedtheaerialapplicationfortheThompsonOkanaganRegionusingtwo315BLamahelicoptersandtwoHillerUH12EThelicopters.Atotalofseventy-five1,000litrebulkcontainersof B.t.k.weredeliveredto15stagingsitestoservicethe16sprayblocksintheOkanaganShuswap,ThompsonRivers and Cascades Forest Districts. Region and District staff as well as local contractors assisted in the delivery oftheprogram,fromsprayplanningandpopulationassessmentstodailyweathermonitoring.TheThompsonOkanaganprogramtreated29,875hectares(Fig.1)intotalusing73,285litresofB.t.k. Spraying was conducted fromJune21sttoJuly5th,takingatotalof6daystocomplete(Table1).Budwormdevelopmentwasveryslowin2011duetocoolwetweatherthroughoutMayandJune.Evenaftertreatmentthecoolweatherpersistedatmanysites,affectingtheamountoflarvalfeedingontreatedtrees.Despitethecoolweather,goodresultswereachieved on blocks treated.

TheaerialspraycontractorfortheCaribooRegionprogramwasConair,usingtwoAT-802FAirTractors.TheprojectwasajointeffortbetweenRegionandDistrictstaffandtheProvincialAirTankerCentre,ConairAvia-tion,HighlandHelicoptersandseveralforesthealthconsultants.TheB.t.k. was delivered to the Cariboo in tanker truckswhereitwastransferredto2,500USgallonstoragetankslocatedattheWilliamsLakeairport.Theairportwasusedasthe2011stagingareaforalltheCariboosprayblocks.TheCaribooprogramtreated20,888hectaresintotalusing50,131litresofB.t.k. Theprogramtook5daystocomplete,spanningfromJune26thtoJuly4th,2011.Start-upandcompletionofbothprogramswasdelayedduetocool,wetweatherinearlyJunethatdelayedinsect development. All treatments targeted 4th instar budworm larvae.

Figure 1. Area sprayed with B.t.k. for western spruce budworm from 2000 to 2011 in the Cariboo andThompsonOkanaganRegions.


42

Area Litres Date(s)Block # Location sprayed (ha) Foray 48B (B.t.k.) SprayedThompson Okanagan RegionOkanagan Shuswap DistrictK11 AgurLake 2,392 5,741 June22K12 FishLakeRoad 1,380 3,312 June21-22K13 Peachland-SpringLake 1,131 2,714 June21K14 Peachland-McCallLake 223 535 June21 sub-total 5,126 12,303Thompson Rivers (Kamloops) DistrictK1 Sabiston-RedLake 11,787 28,289 June24-25 (661hare-sprayedonK1) 661 1,586 June25K1a Sabiston-CrissCreekWest 1,107 2,657 June25K2 Sabiston-RedLakeEast 2,078 4,987 June25K3 Deadman-McLeodRd 2,682 6,437 June24 sub-total 17,654 43,956Cascades DistrictM4 SpahominCreek 2,518 6,043 July5M3 SpahominCreek 1,350 3,240 July5M7a S.Princeton-DeepGulch 7761,862 June29M7b Friday-SaturdayCreek 346830 June29M8 SundaySummit 8752,100 June29M8a SundaySummitWest 96230 June29M9 Placer-BelgieCreek 8472,033 June29M10 CrowleyCreek 287688 June29 sub-total 7,095 17,027Thompson Okanagan Region total 29,875 73,285Cariboo Region1 Marguerite 5,393 12,943 June26-27;July42 TingleyCreek 1,900 4,560 June263 SoapLake 568 1,363 June274 TillLake 2,680 6,432 June26-275 ChimneyLakeNorth 3,896 9,350 June276 BaldMountain 1,396 3,350 June297 Farwell 3,328 7,987 June29;July48 WordCreek 1,727 4,145 June28Cariboo Region Total 20,888 50,131South Area Total 50,763 121,830 June 21-July 5

Table1.ListofwesternsprucebudwormsprayblockstreatedwithForay48Bin2011,showinghectarestreated,litresofB.t.k. applied and date sprayed. All treatments were at 2.4 litres per hectare.

43


Efficacy Assessment of the 2011 western spruce budworm spray program

A select number of sites within and adjacent to treatment areas were assessed for budworm population before andaftertreatment.Thislarvalsamplingprocedurewasconductedbyselecting10-15treespersiteandateachsamplingdate(onedaypre-sprayandat5-7dayintervalspost-spray),two45cmbranchtipspertreewereclippedand the number of budworm larvae on each branch counted. Current year defoliation and total tree defoliation wasrecordedateachassessmentdate.Atotalof42controltreesand85treatedtrees(Table2)over10sitesweresampledpre-andpost-spray.Thepercentmortalityofbudwormlarvaewascalculatedasbelow:

%Mortality=(pre-spraydensityofliveinsects)-(post-spraydensityofliveinsects)x100 (pre-spray density of live insects)

TodeterminethelarvalmortalityattributedtoB.t.ktreatment,Abbott’scorrectedmortalitywascalculatedusingthe formula below:

Abbott’scorrected%mortality= (treated%mortality)-(check%mortality) x100 100-(check%mortality)

Budwormpopulationswerecomparableamongsitesselectedforsampling,withlarvaldensityrangingfrom124to 301 larvae per m2 foliage in spray blocks and 247 to 295 larvae/m2foliageincontrolareas,atthepre-sprayassessment(Table3).Atthefirstpost-sprayassessment(Table3)theaveragenumberofbudwormlarvaeperm²foliagewassignificantlylowerinsprayedblockscomparedtounsprayedblockswithanaverageof72larvae/m2 compared to 224 larvae/m2,respectively.Thispopulationreductionrepresentedanaverageof65.3%mortalityinsprayblocksand17.3%mortalityincontrolblocks(Table4).Atthesecondpost-sprayassessmentaveragelarvalmoralityacrosssprayblockswas83.1%,rangingfromahighof94.8%mortalityintheSabistonCreek#2blockto63.1%inthePrincetonblock(Table4).Fewercontrolsitesweresampledthanspraysites..TheSabistonandPrincetonbudwormpopulationsdecreasedsignificantlyinthecontrolblocks,soAbbott’scorrectedmortalitydidnotreflecttheoverallpopulationreductionachievedby B.t.k.treatment.Thefirstpost-spraycalculationofpercentlarvalmortalityandAbbott’scorrectedmortalitybetterdescribedtheoverallresultsoftreatment.Larvalnumbersdecreased rapidly in treatment areas compared to control areas thereby protecting trees from further defoliation. TheaverageFettesdefoliationestimateforsprayedblocksinPrincetonwas1.4(<20%defoliation)comparedtoaFettesestimateof4.1(>60%defoliation)inthecorrespondingcontrolblock(Fig.2).Larvaewerepredomi-nantlylate3rdtoearly4thinstaratthetimeoftreatment(Fig.3).Frominitialtreatmenttothefirstpost-sprayassessment(about5-7daysaftertreatment),verylittlegrowthwasobservedinlarvaeprimarilyduetothecoolweatherconditions.Bythe2ndpost-sprayassessment,spanningfromJuly4thintheOkanagantoJuly28thinthePrincetonarea,larvaldevelopmenthadprogressedandrangedfromlate4thinstarto6thinstar.

Number of Trees Pre-sprayGeographic area Control Treatment Sampling DatePrincetonblocks 15 15 28-JunSabiston-McLeodRd.blocks 12 40 24-Jun-25Peachlandblocks 15 30 20-JunTotal trees 42 85

Table2.Numberoftreessampledforwesternsprucebudwormpopulationsincontrol and treatment areas showing date of pre-spray sampling (conducted the day prior to treatment areas being sprayed).


44

Average no. larvae/m2 foliage (by block)Block Pre-Btk Btk-1 Btk-2 Pre-Control Control-1 Control-2Peachland-3 km 210.2 87.3 42.4 247.1 239.5 103.5Peachland-5 km 234.7 142.4 12.5 247.1 239.5 103.5Peachland - Law Street 301.9 98.9 72.8 247.1 239.5 103.5Sabiston-McLeod 129.7 42.6 10.3 295.3 217.4 60.3Sabiston Creek #2 124.1 17.7 6.4 295.3 217.4 60.3Sabiston Creek #3 228.4 73.4 42.3 295.3 217.4 60.3Princeton 147.9 42.3 54.5 294.5 197.5 35.1Average (all blocks) 196.7 72.1 34.5 274.5 224.0 75.2

Table3.Averagedensityofwesternsprucebudwormlarvae(larvae/m2foliage),incontrolareasandsprayblocks (B.t.k.),ateachofthesamplingtimes(Pre=pre-spray;1=1stpost-spray;2=2ndpost-spray).

Abbott’s corrected % mortality % mortalityBlock Btk-1 Btk-2 Control-1 Control-2 Post-1 Post-2Peachland-3km 58.5 79.8 3.1 58.1 57.2 51.9Peachland-5 km 39.4 94.7 3.1 58.1 37.4 87.3Peachland - Law St 67.2 75.9 3.1 58.1 66.2 42.4Sabiston-McLeod 67.1 92.0 26.4 79.6 55.4 61.0Sabiston Cr #2 85.7 94.8 26.4 79.6 80.6 74.6Sabiston Cr #3 67.9 81.5 26.4 79.6 56.3 9.2Princeton 71.4 63.1 32.9 88.1 57.3 -Average (all blocks): 65.3 83.1 17.3 71.6 58.6 16.8Ave. excluding Princeton 64.3 86.5 14.7 68.9 58.9 54.4

Table4.Percentmortalityofwesternsprucebudwormlarvaeincontrolandtreatmentblocks(B.t.k.) and Abbott’scorrectedpercentmortality,attwopost-spraysamplingtimes.AverageswerealsocalculatedexcludingthePrincetonblockswhichdidnotshowsignificantmortalityduetotreatmentinthecorrectedmortality calculation.

Figure3.Larvalinstarattimeofsampling,averagingallsites(averageinstar+SD).

Small third instar western spruce budworm larva.

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Figure 2. Fettes defoliation estimate (current year defoliation) at the pre-spray and two post-spray sampling timesin3controland6treatedsites.Fettesdefoliationscale(%):0=0;1=1-20;2=21-40;3=41-60;4=61-80;

5=81-99;6=100;and7=100%defoliationplusbuddestruction).

Western spruce budworm treatment plans for 2012

Usingtheresultsofthe2011aerialoverviewsurveymappingofbudwormdefoliationandstandhazardratingasaguide,eggmasssamplingwasconductedinatotalof706sitesinthefallof2011(Table5).ByRegionatotalof288,237,155and26siteswereassessedintheThompsonOkanagan,Cariboo,KootenayBoundaryandCoastRegions,respectively.AllsitesintheChilliwackDistrictpredictednilorlightdefoliation,sonosprayprogramisplannedfor2012inthisDistrict,andpopulationmonitoringwillcontinuein2012.

Nearly43%ofsitesintheKootenayBoundaryRegion(comparedto9%ofallsitesassessedin2011)predictmoderatetoseveredefoliationin2012.Itisanticipatedthatupto10,000hectareswillrequireB.t.k. treatment nextyear.Over22,000hectaresofmoderateandseveredefoliationweremapped,representingnearly47%oftotal defoliation mapped in the Region.

ThebudwormalsocontinuedtobuildsignificantlythroughouttheSouthOkanagan,withapproximately145,955hectaresofdefoliationmappedintheOkanaganShuswapDistrict.Ofthis,41%(59,696hectares)wereclassedasmoderatetosevere.Eggmasssamplingrevealed72sitesintheOkanaganShuswapDistrict(62%ofsitesassessedinthisdistrict)predictingmoderatetoseveredefoliationin2012.Approximately62%ofsitesintheCascadesDistrictand33%ofsitesintheThompsonRiversDistrictresultedineggmasscountspredictingmod-eratetoseveredefoliationin2012,representing62sitesand24sitesineachdistrictrespectively(Table5).Asprayprogramofapproximately40,000hectaresisplannedforthisRegionin2012.


46

# of sites in each defoliation category Total number Average # egg District Nil Light Moderate Severe of sites masses/10m2 foliage*Chilliwack 3 23 0 0 26 11.6Cascades 0 38 42 20 100 91.4Okanagan Shuswap 6 38 55 17 116 82.1Kamloops 11 37 19 5 72 47.3Central Cariboo 0 52 42 13 107 81.9100 Mile House 23 42 23 6 94 51.0Chilcotin 8 12 4 1 25 27.6Quesnel 4 6 1 0 11 14.2Arrow Boundary 16 45 49 7 117 54.6Rocky Mountain 1 27 10 0 38 37.2Total 72 320 245 69 706 48.7percent of sites 10 45 35 10*Nil=noeggmassesfound Moderate=51-150eggmasses/10m2 foliageLight=1-50eggmasses/10m2foliage Severe=>150eggmasses/10m2 foliage

Table5.Resultsoffall2011westernsprucebudwormeggmasssamplinginB.C.ResultsaresummarizedbyDistrictindicatingthenumberofsitespredictingeithernil(nodefoliationpredictedin2012),light,moderateorseveredefoliationin2012.

IntheCaribooRegion,90eggmasssamplingsites(38%ofsitesassessedinthisRegion)resultedinmoderatetosevere defoliation predictions for 2012. Most of the high budworm populations were in the Central Cariboo and 100MileHouseDistricts(Table5).Approximately98%ofthetotal378,231hectaresofdefoliationmappedin2011occurredinthesetwodistricts.TheCariboohasover40,000hectaresplannedforB.t.k. treatment in 2012.

Thecombinationofnaturalandappliedcontrolseffectivelydecreasedbudwormpopulationsin2011,however,infestationsinuntreatedareascontinuedtoincreaseandspread.Theareaofmappeddefoliationin2011increasedtoover616,689hectaresfrom499,104hectaresin2010.

Upto90,000hectaresofInteriorDouglas-firforestsarescheduledfortreatmentwithForay48B®(Bacillus thu-ringiensis var. kurstaki,B.t.k.;PCP#24977)underthe“2008-2013SouthernInteriorPestManagementPlan”in2012.TreatmentswillbetargetedathighprioritystandswithintheThompsonOkanagan,CaribooandKootenayBoundary Regions as noted above.

Western spruce budworm eggmass sampling training session, Rock Creek, 2011.

47


2011 douglas-fIr tussock MotH PrograM suMMarY rePort

Background

In2007,patchesofdefoliationduetotheDouglas-firtussockmoth(DFTM)weredetectedintheThompsonRiversDistrict.Inthefall,asignificantincreaseineggmassesatnumeroussamplingsitesledtothefirstaerialpesticidetreatmentinthesummerof2008.2011markedthe5thyearintheoutbreakcycleofDFTM.The2011controlprogramtargetedareaswiththehighesteggmassdensitieslocatedinsurveysconductedduringthefallof2010.Theprogramcovered20blockslocatedintheOkanaganShuswap,ThompsonRiversandCascadesForestDistrictsforatotalof7,281hectarestreated(Fig.1;Table1).IntheCascadesDistrict,thesprayprogramwascoveredunderaseparatePesticideUsePermit,PUP#402-0659-11/11,because most of the blocks were on private forested land or within a Provincial Park. All blocks on Crown forested land were treated with Foray 48B (B.t.k.) applied once at 4 litres per hectare.TheprivatelandandProvincialParkatPavilionLakeweretreatedtwiceat4litresper hectare. No nuclear polyhedrosis (NPV) virus was used in 2011 due to lack of supply. Larvalhatchwasgreatlydelayedthisyearduetocool,wetweatherthroughoutthespringandearlysummerperiod.ThePeachlandblocksweretreatedonJune21,2011,followedbytheCascadesandThompsonRiversblocks.Larvaehadallhatchedanddispersedfromeggmassesatthetimeoftreatmentandrangedfrom2ndto3rdinstar,however,duetocontinuingcoolweatheraftertreatment,particularlyinthePavilionarea,larvaewerenotactivelyfeed-ing. Western Aerial Applications Ltd. conducted the aerial application using a 315B Lama helicopterandHillerUH12EThelicopterfromfivestagingsites.

Figure1.TotalannualdefoliationbyDouglas-firtussockmothcomparedtototal area sprayed for the current outbreak period (2007-2011).


48

Area Litres Date(s)Block # Location sprayed (ha) Foray 48B (B.t.k.) SprayedOkanagan Shuswap District 14 Peachland-LawStreet 191 764 June21K12NW Peachland-FishLake 130 520 June2115 Peachland-SpringLake 160 640 June2115a Peachland-PrincetonAve. 10 41 June2116 Peachland-EneasCreek 204 814 June21Districttotal 695 2,779Cascades District 10* PavilionLake&SmithRd 405 2,700 June2311* NorthPavilionLake 125 500 June2312* Diamond“S”Ranch 27 108 June2313* PavilionIR 87 693 June23Districttotal 644 4,001Thompson Rivers (Kamloops) District 1 VeasyLake 2,044 8,178 June232 VeasyLake-S-sideofHwy99 38 152 June233 McLeanCreek-NWofCacheCreek 134 536 June234 HatCreek-WestofVeasy 268 1,071 June238 McLeanCreek-NWofCacheCreek 115 462 June247 McLeanCreek-NWofCacheCreek 121 485 June246 CacheCreekAirport 112 446 June245 NorthCacheCreek 392 1,568 June249a BattleCreek 104 418 June249b BattleCreek 256 1,024 June249 BattleCreek 2,358 9,432 June24Districttotal 5,943 23,772Total area treated 7,281 30,551 June 21 - 24

Table1.ListofDouglas-firtussockmothsprayblockstreatedwithForay48Bin2011,showinghectarestreated,litresofB.t.k. applied and date sprayed. Blocks followed by an asterisk (*) were treated under PUP#402-0659-11/11,whileallotherblocksweretreatedundertheSouthernInteriorRegionPestManagement Plan.

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Efficacy assessment of Douglas-fir tussock moth control program

Pre- and post spray larval sampling was conducted in select treated and untreated sites to evaluate treatment ef-ficacy,determinebesttimingofthesprayapplicationandmonitortussockmothdensityandpresenceofvirus.Itwasdifficulttolocatecomparablecontrolsitesbecausemosthightussockmothpopulationsitesweretargetedfortreatment.However,threecontrolsiteswereselected,oneeachnearthePeachland,PavilionandVeasyLaketreatmentblocks.Foursiteswithinthetreatmentblockswerealsosampled(Tables2,3).Alltreatmentandcontrolblocksweresampledonedaypriortosprayapplication(pre-spraysample).Thestandardprotocolofsnippingtwo45cmbranchtipsfrommid-crownofapproximately15treespersitewasused.Alllarvaewerecountedandassessedforvirusinfection.Atpre-spraysampling,larvaldensityvariedfrom55larvaeperm2 foliage (Peachland control;Table2)toover623larvaeperm2foliage(SkyBluecampgroundonPavilionLake;Table2).Atthefirstpost-sprayassessmentundertaken10-14daysafterthespray,larvalnumbershaddecreasednoticeablyinallbutthe Sky Blue site and on the private land adjacent to this sampling site. Average larval density at Sky Blue was 525.6+245.0larvaeperm2foliage(Table2)indicatingminimallarvalmortalityduetotreatment(Table3).Thepercentlarvalmortalityintheothertreatmentareaswasgood,rangingfrom56%to100%atthe1stpost-sprayassessment(Table3).Abbott’scorrectedmortalitywas70.8%ontheVeasyblockand96.6%ontheotherPavilionblocks(Table3).DespitethetwoapplicationsofB.t.k. at 4 litres/ha on the private land adjacent to Pavilion Lake andtheSkyBluecampground,negligiblecontrolwasachievedandsignificantdefoliationoccurredatSkyBlue.Theprivatelandownerssubsequentlyhiredaprivatecompanytospraytheirproperties.Anumberoffactorscouldhaveinfluencedthislackofcontrolsuchas:extremelyhighlarvalnumbers;minimalfoliageontreesforfeedinglarvae to consume B.t.k.;andcoolweatherfollowingthespraysominimalfeedingoccurred.Aswell,thereweremanyhousesandotherstructuresonthepropertiesleadingtoanunsynchronizedhatch(e.g.undershadedeavesofsomebuildings)soitispossiblethatsomelarvaehadnotdispersedatthetimeofthespray.TherewasverylittleevidenceofvirusatanyofthesamplinglocationsexceptinthePeachlandcontrol.

Ave # larvae/m2 (B.t.k.) Ave # larvae/m2 (control)Block Pre 1st post 2nd post Pre 1st post 2nd postVeasy 374.9 ± 107.2 163.9 ± 99.6 61.7 ± 41.0 238.0 ± 152.8 206.5 ± 66.1 134.0 ± 112.9Peachland 125.3 ± 67.5 0.0 NA 55.7 ± 55.1 45.5 ± 10.8 NASky Blue 623.3 ± 328.6 525.6 ± 245.0 NA 238.0 ± 152.8 206.5 v 66.1 134.0 ± 112.9Pavilion 264.7 ± 147.9 65.8 ± 52.5 5.0 ± 12.0 238.0 ± 152.8 206.5 ± 66.1 134.0 ± 112.9

Table2.AveragenumberofDouglas-firtussockmothlarvae(±standarddeviation)intreated(B.t.k.) and control blocks at the pre-spray and post-spray sampling times.

Percentmortality Abbott’scorrectedmortality(%)Block B.t.k.-1 B.t.k.-2 Control-1 Control-2 Abbott’s-1 Abbott’s-2Veasy 56.3 83.5 13.2 43.7 49.6 70.8Peachland 100.0 NA 18.3 NA 100.0 NASky Blue 15.7 NA 13.2 NA 2.8 NAPavilion 75.1 98.1 13.2 43.7 71.4 96.6

Table3.ThepercentmortalityofDFTMlarvaeintreated(B.t.k.) and control blocks at two post-spray sampling times.


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DetailedaerialmappingwasconductedinJulyandAugusttodelineatetotalareaofmortalitycausedbytussockmothduringthisoutbreak.Theentire2008-11outbreakareaintheThompsonOkanaganRegionwasassessed.Approximately8,813hectaresofDouglas-firmortalityweremapped(Fig.2)withthehighestlevelsofmortalityoccurringintheThompsonRiversDistrict(Fig.3).Muchofthemortalitywasduetodefoliationin2009and2010,particularlyintheCultusLake-Savona,Barnhartvale,MonteCreek,HeffleyCreekandSixMileareas.Ad-ditional mortality may occur where the tussock moth is still active and in areas defoliated in 2011 such as Cache Creek,PavilionandSpencesBridge.SmallpatchesofmortalityarealreadyevidentinthePavilion-MarbleCanyonareabecauseofextremelyseverelarvaldensitiesin2010and2011.Thispopulationrepresentsanexpansionoftheknownhistoricrangeoftussockmothandappearstobeexpandingnorthwards(Fig.4).TheMarbleCanyondrainageisverynarrowwithsteep,dryrockycliffsoneithersideofthelake.Withtussockmothrangebeingverylimitedbyelevation,itismovingalongthevalleynorthandwest.

Figure3.Areaoflight,moderateandsevere2011defoliationandcumulativemortality(2008-2011)causedbytheDouglas-firtussockmothintheSouthernInterior.Thehectaresofmortality caused by tussock moth are shown for each District above grey bar.

Figure2.Areaofannualdefoliation(redbars)causedbytheDouglas-firtussockmothfrom2008-2011inthesoutherninteriorofB.C.Detailedmappingin2011delineated8,793

hectaresofdeadDouglas-fir(greybar)asaresultofthefouryeartussockmothoutbreak.

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ThecurrentoutbreakcycleisthemostextensiveanddamagingoutbreakrecordedinB.C.,particularlyintheThompsonRiversDistrict(Figs.2-4),whichhasmanyscatteredareasofdefoliationthroughoutthedryInteriorDouglas-fir(IDF)forests.2009wasthefirstsignificantyearoftheoutbreak,withmoderatelysizedpatchesofdefoliation(averagesizerangingfrom13.9hectaresto20.3hectares;Fig.5)occurringprimarilyintheThompsonRiversDistrictandintotheadjacentOkanaganShuswapDistrict.AveragepatchsizedidnotvarygreatlybetweenDistrictsin2009,althoughtherewerefarfewerpatchesintheOkanaganShuswapandCascadesDistricts(Fig.5).Sincethen,therehavebeeninterestingfluctuationsintheoutbreak,withalmostallknownhistoricareasoftussockmothhavingpopulationbuild-upsandvisibledefoliation.Asexpected,thetussockmothpopulationincreasedexponentiallyin2010.Althoughfewerpatchesofdefoliationweremapped,patchsizeandseverityofdefoliation,increasedsignificantly,particularlyintheThompsonRiversDistrict(Fig.5).

Thetotaldefoliationmappedin2011decreasedoverallthroughacombinationoftargetedcontroltreatmentsandthenaturalpopulationcollapsecausedmainlybyNPV.Defoliationmappedin2011showedahighernumber,butgenerallysmallerpolygonsthanin2010,whichwasmorereflectiveofthe2009outbreakpattern(Fig.5).In2011,273hectaresofseveretussockmothdefoliation(Fig.3,4)weremappedinthe100MileHouseDistrict,along the west side of the Fraser River and North Bonaparte River. Much of this defoliation was a continuation oftheoutbreakintheCascadesDistrictthatwaslargelyintheLillooetTSAalongPavilionandCrownLakes,and north along the west side of the Fraser River to French Bar Creek. Some of these populations represent a rangeexpansionforthetussockmoth.OtheractivepopulationswereprimarilyinthesouthOkanaganfromWestKelownathroughtheSummerland-Pentictonareas.Thesepopulationsdisplayedaveryeruptivesignatureandthere was little to no evidence of egg masses at survey sites this fall.

Figure4.AreadefoliatedbytheDouglas-firtussockmothinthesoutherninterior2009-2011andareaofhistoric defoliation (grey).


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2012 population predictions for Douglas-fir tussock moth

TheDouglas-firtussockmothhasafullyintegratedmanagementstrategywhichincludesmonitoring,predictivepopulationsampling,biologicalcontrolandassessment.Predictivesamplingisconductedbyquantifyingeggmassesontreesovernumerousgeographicareas.Atotalof19sitesintheThompsonRivers,CascadesandOka-nagan Shuswap Districts were ground surveyed in September and October 2011 for tussock moth egg masses. Surveyorsassessed508plotswithinthe19sites(Table4;Fig.6).Fourteensitessurveyed(210plots)hadviableegg masses that are predicted to have some level of defoliation in 2012 (Fig. 6) and 16 sites (67 plots) had egg masses that were small or possibly infected with NPV.

Figure 5. Graph on the left shows the number of discrete polygons (patches) of defoliation caused by the Douglas-firtussockmothfrom2009through2011,byDistrict.Graphontherightshowstheaveragepolygon

size(ha)ineachdistrictfor2009-2011.

Figure6.Defoliationandpopulationpredictionsfor2012(collapsed;light;moderate;orsevere)basedupondensityofviableDouglas-firtussockmotheggmassesobserved.Atotalof508plotsdistributedamong19

sitesweresurveyed.*Collapsed=noeggmassesfoundorthoseobservedwerefewinnumber,verysmallandpossibly infected with NPV.

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Acollectionofthree-treebeatingsitesandsix-trapclusters(21historicplus22newforatotalof43sites)giveannualestimatesofcurrentabundanceofDouglas-firtussockmothandotherinsectdefoliatorsaswellasdefoliationpredictionsforthefollowingyear,respectively.Twenty-onesiteshavebeenmonitoredforseveralyears,whiletwenty-twositeswereaddedin 2010 for better coverage of areas susceptible to the tussock moth. Some of the new 6-trap clustersitesarelocatedwhere“singlet”trapsusedtobedeployed.Trappingand3-treebeatingsitesarelocatedinareaswithahistoryofDouglas-firtussockmothdefoliation.Three-treebeatingswereconductedin30ofthesesitesinlateJune-earlyJuly.Trapsweredeployedatthesametimeatall43sitesandwerecollectedinlateSeptember.Thegeographicoutbreakareaswereupdatedin2011tobetterreflectcurrentandhistoricoutbreakdynamics(Fig.7).ThisexerciseispartofaprojecttorefinesusceptibilitymapsfortussockmothinB.C.

2012 Defoliation Prediction Number of plots Percent of plotsNoviableeggmasses* 258 51%VeryLight/Light 184 36%Moderate 24 5%Severe 2 0.4%* includes plots where egg masses were thought to be infected with NPV

Table4.Thenumberofplotsandpercentof508plotssurveyedhavingnoviableDouglas-firtussockmotheggmassesorwithdensitiesindicatingverylighttolightdefoliation,moderatedefoliationorseveredefoliationin2012.

Figure7.LocationofDouglas-firtussockmothmonitoringsites(▲=three-treebeatingsand6-trapclusters;*=6-trapclusteronly)andrevisedgeographicoutbreakareas(WK=West

Kamloops,KA=Kamloops,OK=Okanagan,SIM=Similkameen).

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Douglas-firtussockmothlarvae(through3-treebeatings)werefoundat57%ofthesites,downfrom66%in2010.ThehighestlevelswereintheWestKamloopsoutbreakareanearVeasyLake,CampbellHill,PavilionandSpencesBridgewhere577,358,132,and107larvaewerefound,respectively.BothVeasyLakeandPavilionweresprayedin2011.However,due in part to the very high insect populations at these sites and the use of B.t.k rather than virus,remnantpopulationswerestillviable.PopulationsintheNorthThompson,Okanagan,andSimilkameenwereverylow,whichreflectedtheabsenceofanynoticeabledefoliation.Three-treebeatingsgiveanindicationoftheabundanceanddiversityofdefoliatinginsectsovertimebutarenotusedapredictivetool.Theyareusefulinsupportingothermonitoringand population assessment methods.

Overall,74%ofpermanenttrappingsiteshadincreasedtrapcatchesin2011comparedto2010.TheWestKamloopsoutbreakareahad14siteswithhigherthanaveragecatchandonesiteonlyhadlowermothnumbersthanin2010(Table6).Averagetrapcatch(ofmoths)washighestatsitesintheWestKamloopsoutbreakarea,withthehighestcatchesatthePavilion,VeasyLakeandSpencesBridgesites(Table5).Duringtheoutbreakandtowardthecollapse,trapcatchnumberscanbeextremelyvariableanddonotaccuratelypredictpopulationtrends.Averagetrap catch per site averaged among all sites within an outbreak region was compared to actual yearlydefoliation(Fig.8).ThegeneraldeclineinDFTMpopulationsthroughouttheoutbreakarea was then more clearly seen. Sites in the Kamloops and West Kamloops outbreak areas overallbestpredictedthepopulationincreasesthatresultedinvisibledefoliation.Ingeneral,there were two years prior to visible defoliation with high average trap catches (>20 moths/trap).TrapresultsintheOkanaganfluctuatedgreatlyinyearsleadinguptothedefoliationin2009 and there was no warning in the Similkameen. Given that the Similkameen is one of the outbreakareasthattendstohaveveryshort,butsevere,outbreaks,anearlywarningsystemisimperativeifcontroleffortsaretobeimplemented.Twelveadditional6-trapclustersiteshave been added to this outbreak region to increase the reliability of the early-warning system. Insummary,thegroundsurveys(Fig.6)indicateverylowpopulationsinmostgeographicareaswithmoderatetrapcatchresults.Theareaofactiveinfestationwillcontinuetodeclinein 2012 marking the end of this outbreak cycle.

Outbreak Number of 6-trap sitesRegion Increasing DecreasingOkanagan 3 4Kamloops 6 1Similkameen 9 5West Kamloops 14 1Total 32 11% of total sites 74% 26%

Table6.NumberofDFTM6-trapclusterssitesthatshowedincreasing or decreasing average moth catches from 2010 to 2011 in four southern interior outbreak regions.

References:Fettes, J.H. 1950.Investigation of s amp l ing t e ch -niques for popula-tion studies of the spruce budworm onbalsamfirinOn-tario. Forest Insect Laboratory, SaultSte.Marie,OntarioAnnual TechnicalReport.

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Average Catches Per Trap 2012 PredictedSite Location 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 DefoliationKamloops 1 McLure 0 9.8 33.3 65.7 4.5 25.6 40.5 light2 HeffleyCreek 38 14.8 34.2 89.8 15.8 2 3.3 nil3 Inks Lake 0.3 10.2 5.6 58.8 26.6 1 6.2 nil4 SixMile 33.6 52.5 73.5 73.3 51 48.8 19.2 light9 Stump Lake 3.8 2.8 8.7 61.8 15.6 22.7 79.8 light10 Monte Creek 40.2 18.3 80.5 75.2 9.2 21.7 54.5 light11 Chase 9.3 0 0 25.3 7.8 0 1.8 nil Average of sites 17.9 15.5 33.7 64.3 18.6 17.4 29.3Okanagan12 YankeeFlats 2 0 0 38.5 2.2 3 32.0 light13 Vernon 79.8 12.2 1.3 24.8 24.3 22 35.2 light14 Winfield/WoodLake 11 0.3 1 38.8 50.8 34 14.7 nil15 Kelowna/JuneSprings - - - - - 46.8 0.7 nil16 Summerland 4.5 1 0.3 43.5 13.2 0 8.5 nil17 Kaleden 18.6 11.6 29 55.4 27.7 2.9 3.7 nil18 Blue Lake 39.8 8.3 1.3 63.2 5.2 0 0.5 nil Average of sites 26.0 5.6 5.5 44.0 20.6 15.5 13.6Similkameen19 Stemwinder Park 29.5 1.5 17.8 40.2 30.7 0 0 nil20 Ashnola River 14.3 0 12.3 43.3 20.5 0 0.8 nil32 Olalla - - - - - 5.7 3.7 nil33 Red Bridge Rec Site - - - - - 0.3 0.3 nil34 Ashnola Road - - - - - 0 0.3 nil36 Hwy 3 Lawrence Rch - - - - - 0 0.8 nil37 Hwy 3 Willow Hts - - - - - 0 0.3 nil38 Hwy 3 Bradshaw Crk - - - - - 0 3.2 nil39 Hwy 3 Winters Crk - - - - - 0 1.2 nil40 Hwy 3 Nickelplate Rd - - - - - 0 6.2 nil41 Stemwinder FSR - - - - - 0 3.0 nil42 Old Hedley Rd - - - - - 0 0.4 nil43 Pickard Crk Rec Site - - - - - 0.3 2.5 nil44 5.7 km Old Hedley Rd - - - - - 5.7 0.7 nil Average of sites 21.9 0.8 15.1 41.8 25.6 0.9 1.7West Kamloops5 Battle Creek 1.2 14 34.8 64.5 12.3 46.5 2.5 nil6 Barnes Lake 1.5 34.5 21.3 58 0.5 24.3 37.5 nil-light7 Carquille/VeasyLake 0 13.8 22.5 59 13 38.2 54.5 light8 Pavilion 0 1.5 15.7 40 15.7 7.8 82.5 nil-light21 Spences Bridge 0 1.5 10.2 5.7 29.5 59.3 68.5 light22 Veasy Lake - - - - - 27.8 68.0 light23 Veasy Lake - - - - - 5.6 43.3 light24 Veasy Lake - - - - - 6.8 76.3 light25 Hwy 99 - - - - - 11.0 23.0 nil-light26 Venables Valley - - - - - 24.3 39.7 light27 Maiden Creek - - - - - 3.5 8.0 nil28 Hwy 99 - - - - - 3.0 9.3 nil29 Cornwall 79 - - - - - 28.8 49.5 nil-light30 Cornwall 80 - - - - - 2.0 6.0 nil31 Barnes Lake - - - - - 7.7 9.8 nil Average of sites 0.5 13.1 20.9 45.4 14.2 19.8 38.6Boundary (Avg of 9 sites) - - - - 4.0 2.0 73.0 nil-lightCariboo (Avg of 58 sites) - - - 2.3 4.0 1.7 1.6 nil

Table5.AveragenumberofDouglas-firtussockmothscaughtper6-trapclustersitein4outbreakregions(Kamloops,Okanagan,Similkameen,WestKamloops),andtheBoundary(nearRockCreekandMidway)and Clinton-Big Bar areas.


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Figure 8. Upper: Four graphs comparing the area defoliated (hectares) by tussock moth (2005-2011) and the averagenumberofmothscaughtpertrap(averageofsiteswithineachoutbreakregion),byoutbreakregionfor2005-2011.Lower:Mapshowingboundariesofthe4outbreakregions(WK=WestKamloops;KA=

Kamloops;OK=Okanagan;SIM=Similkameen)intheThompsonOkanaganRegionwithinsetgraphsshowinghectares of defoliation between 2007 and 2011.

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western HeMlock looPer In tHe tHoMPson okanagan, carIBoo and kootenaY BoundarY regIons

Western hemlock looper annual population trends are monitored by pheromone trapping of male moths and by doing three-tree beating larval sampling at permanent sample sites located in susceptible stands. Forty one permanent siteshavebeenestablishedandaresituatedthroughouttheThompsonOkanaganandKootenayBoundaryRegions.Sixpheromonetrapsaredeployedat27ofthesesites(Table1),whilethree-treebeatingsoccurattheseandanadditional14sites(KootenayBoundaryRegion).Thesixtrapclustersweresetupandthethree-treebeatingswereconductedinmid-Julythisyear(Table1;Fig.1).Allprimaryandsecondaryinsectdefoliatorswereidentifiedand recorded from the three-tree beatings. All traps were collected and moths counted in early October.

Average Catches Per TrapSite Location 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011ThompsonOkanaganRegion1 Serpentine Creek 2.2 14 232 898 325 4122 ThunderRiver 3 44 864 730 575 6453 Mud Lake 4 14 310 1070 574 7614 MurtleLake 12 21 576 1219 968 1,3765 Finn Creek 4 6 781 450 312 6137 Scotch Creek 3 6 107 621 610 5828 YardCreek 12 4 66 805 417 5089 CrazyCreek 1 7 154 logged 438 25610 Perry River North 6 18 206 714 510 32311 ThreeValleyGap 5 9 169 85 849 31912 Perry River South 4 9 83 623 801 31413 KingfisherCreek 3 5 227 535 316 1,60814 NoisyCreek 1 10 606 698 525 1,09115 Shuswap River 2 3 72 341 416 84216 GreenbushLake 2 logged 29 450 533 2,68217 Adams/TumTum 3 13 512 613 534 264Kootenay Boundary Region72 Sutherland Falls 1 1 29 30 221 32887 TangierFSR 2 1 22 75 384 28483 Martha Creek 2 1 8 6 259 22878 Goldstream River 4 3 4 81 303 68985 DownieCreek 1 1 30 60 372 1,13576 Bigmouth Creek 13 1 9 30 318 76973 Carnes Creek 2 1 16 31 313 37384 Begbie Creek 3 1 25 55 551 63575 PittCreekRecSite 3 2 16 130 431 1,27466 KinbasketLake 17 8 89 237 468 1,53374 JumpingCreek 1 1 27 30 196 bear

Table1.Averagenumberofmalewesternhemlockloopermothspertrapateach6-trapclustersiteintheThompsonOkanaganandKootenayBoundaryRegionsfrom2006-2011.


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Thirty-eightnewtrappingsiteswereestablishedintheCaribooin2011(Table2).Onetrapwassetateachsitein5generalgeographiclocations.Priorto2011,onlythree-treebeatingsweredone.Alltrapswerecollectedand moths counted in late September/early October.

TrapcatchesincreasedsignificantlyintheMabel/SugarLakeareawiththehighestcatchoccurringatGreenbushLake,withanaverageof2,682mothspertrap(Table1). CatchesattrappingsitesbetweenPerryRiverandThreeValleyGapdecreasedsignificantly.LargeincreasesintrapcatchwerenotedatfivesitesnorthofDownieCreek(Goldstream,BigmouthCreek,PittCreekRecSite,KinbasketLake,andDownieCreek),whereassouthofDownieCreek,catchesremainedsomewhatstatic(MarthaandCarnesCreek)(Table1).

Number of moths Average moth catchSite # Location per trap 2011 catch by area1 6100 Rd - Archie Creek to Wartig Lake 30 149.92 6100 Rd - Archie Creek to Wartig Lake 1183 6100 Rd - Archie Creek to Wartig Lake 2604 6100 Rd - Archie Creek to Wartig Lake 05 6100 Rd - Archie Creek to Wartig Lake 226 6100 Rd - Archie Creek to Wartig Lake 2067 6100 Rd - Archie Creek to Wartig Lake 3018 6100 Rd - Archie Creek to Wartig Lake 2339 6100 Rd - Archie Creek to Wartig Lake 22010 6100 Rd - Archie Creek to Wartig Lake 25011 6100 Rd - Archie Creek to Wartig Lake 7812 6100 Rd - Archie Creek to Wartig Lake 27013 6100 Rd - Archie Creek to Wartig Lake 3514 6100 Rd - Archie Creek to Wartig Lake 6515 6100 Rd - Archie Creek to Wartig Lake 16116 Crooked Lake to Canim Lake 61 49.717 Crooked Lake to Canim Lake 4618 Crooked Lake to Canim Lake 7119 Crooked Lake to Canim Lake 9820 Crooked Lake to Canim Lake 3021 Crooked Lake to Canim Lake 1222 Crooked Lake to Canim Lake 3023 6000Road,20km 47 278.824 6000Road,15km 17325 6000Road,09km 7426 6000Road,06km 105327 6000Road,CanimPlace 4728 Abbott Creek (traps damaged) 29 185.029 Abbott Creek 11830 Abbott Creek 25531 Abbott Creek 36532 Spanish Lake Road 16433 Spanish Lake 0.5 Rec Site Road 2334 Cariboo Bridge 217 98.635 5.5km past Cariboo Bridge 8136 12.5km past Cariboo Bridge 6737 17.5km past Cariboo Bridge 5838 27.5km past Cariboo Bridge 70

Table2.Numberofmalewesternhemlockloopermothscaughtpertrapat38sitesintheCaribooRegionin2011,showingaveragemothcatchpertrappinglocation.

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Westernhemlocklooperlarvaewerefoundatallthree-treebeatingsitessampledintheThompsonOkanaganRegionin2011,withtheaveragenumberoflarvaedoublingsince2010to28larvaepersite(Fig.1).Sawflies(Neodiprionsp.)werethemostcommonandabundantdefoliators,alsorecordedat100%ofthesitessampled.

Hemlock looper larval counts doubled at the Serpentine and Finn Creek sites (Fig. 1) and the number of moths caughtinthepheromonetrapsremainedrelativelyhighwithanaverageof412and613mothspertrap,respec-tively(Table1).ThunderRiverandMurtleLakelarvalcountsdecreased,yettheiraveragemothcatcheswerehigherthantheSerpentineandFinnCreeksites,withanaverageof645and1,376mothspertraprespectively(Table1).

OthersitesworthyofmentionareGreenbushLake,3ValleyGapandPerryRiverSouthwhichhadsignificantlyhigherlarvalcountsthanin2010(Fig.1).Elsewhere,larvalpopulationsremainedstaticorincreasedslightly.InthesouthernportionoftheThompsonOkanaganRegionthehighesttrapcatchesweretheKingfisherCreek,NoisyCreek,ShuswapRiverandGreenbushLakesites.MurtleLakehadveryhighmothcatchinthetrapsbutfairlylowlarvalnumbersinthebeatings(Table1;Fig.1).

Figure 1. Upper graph: average number of western hemlock looper larvae collected in the 16 three-treebeatingspermanentsamplesitesintheThompsonOkanaganRegion(2009-2011).

Lower graph: average number of western hemlock looper larvae collected in 8 of 25 sites sampled in the Kootenay Boundary Region (2009-2011).


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Figure2illustrateswesternhemlocklooperpopulationtrendsthroughannualaveragemothcatches,attrappingsitesintheThompsonOkanaganRegion.Theaveragenumberofmalewesternhemlockloopermothscaughtper6-trap cluster site has now surpassed the average seen in 2003 which was the collapse year in the last outbreak cycle.Allpopulationmonitoringseemstoindicatethat2012willbethefirstyearofsignificantdefoliationinmany sites throughout the southern interior.

Figure 2. Average number of male western hemlock looper moths caught per 6-trap cluster siteaveragedover16trappingsitesintheThompsonOkanaganRegion(2003-2011)showing

the point of collapse of the 2001-2003 outbreak.

Inadditiontothe11sitesmentionedabove(Table1)whichhadbothtrapsandthree-treebeatings,fourteenothersites also had 3-tree beatings in the Kootenay Boundary Region. Western hemlock looper larvae were recorded at 84%ofthebeatingsites,upfrom68%in2010,withlarvalcountsaveraging21.9larvaepersite.PittCreekandBeaverRiverhadveryhighlarvalpresenceinthebeatings,105and107larvaerespectively,andthePittCreektrappingsitehadthesecondhighestaveragetrapcatchofallsitesintheKootenayBoundaryRegion(Table1;Fig.1).ThemajorityofsitessamplednorthandeastofRevelstokeincreasedfromanaverageof3.7larvaepersitein2010to39.5in2011,whilethosesouthofRevelstokeandthroughtheKaslo-TroutLakecorridorincreasedfromanaverageof1.1larvaepersitein2010to5.6in2011(Figs.1,3).Larvaltrendsaresimilartothoseexperienced1to2yearsbeforethelastoutbreakthatstartedin2002(Figure3).Theabundanceanddiversityofdefoliatorinsectspeciesidentifiedinthethree-treebeatings,increasedto24,morethandoublethe2010records.

Figure 3. Average number of western hemlock looper larvae collected in 3-tree beatings in the Kootenay BoundaryRegion.Trappingsitesareaveragedbytwolargergeographicareas:SouthRevelstoke;and,North

andEastRevelstoke(2000-2011).Arrowindicatespeakoflastoutbreakcycle(2002).

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Historically the Cariboo Region has only conducted 3-tree beatings to monitor western hemlock looper and as-sociatedinsectdefoliators.In2011,fivegeographicareasthathistoricallyhavewesternhemlocklooperoutbreakwereselectedand38singletrapsiteswereestablished(Table2).Asexpected,thesingletrapcatchesvariedconsiderably,rangingfrom12to1,053mothspertrap.Averageingtrapcatchesbygeographiclocationgivesabetterindicationofthepopulationtrend(Table2)withtrapsintheCanimLakeareaofthe100MileHouseTSAaveraging279mothspertrap.TheothertwoareaswithhighaveragetrapcatcheswereintheWilliamsLakeTSAattheeasttipofHorseflyLake(average=150moths/trap;Table2)andnearSpanishLake(185moths/trap;Table2).

Withthepossibilityof2012beingthefirstyearofoutbreakleveldefoliation,eggsamplingwasconductedatselect sites through the southern interior to anticipate population build-ups and plan for targeted control programs. Western hemlock looper moths lay eggs in the lichen growing on mature hemlock. Lichen samples must be collectedtoassessthenumberandconditionofeggs(healthy,parasitized).Eggsamplingisdoneinthefalltopredict levels of defoliation the following summer. Lichen is collected from the bole and lower crown branches ofmaturehemlockuntilapproximately100gramsoflichenpersiteiscollected(usuallyabout5-10trees).Thelichenisthen:airdried;weighed;rinsedin100°Cwater;andthensievedthrough3stackedstrainersofdifferentmeshsize.Alldislodgedeggsarethencountedandcategorizedbycolour(healthy,parasitized,infertile,old)(Table3).Basedonthenumberofeggsper100goflichen,wecanthenpredictthelevelofdefoliationateachsite(Table3).

# healthy eggs per Predicted 2012Egg Condition Colour of eggs 100 g dry weight lichen defoliationHealthy Bronze 0-4 nilParasitized Black 5-26 lightInfertile Yellow 27-59 moderateOld Opaque 60+ severe

Table3.Westernhemlockloopereggconditionandthenumberofhealthyeggsper100gramslichen for each defoliation category.

Predicted 2012 defoliation # of sites Avg. # eggs per 100 g lichenNone 25 3.3Light-Moderate 14 26.2Moderate 3 39.2Severe 3 99.6Total 45 14.9

Table4.ResultsoflichencollectionandeggextractionintheCaribooRegionto predicted defoliation levels for 2012.

Trapcatchdataandknownareasofhistoricdefoliationweretheprimarydatausedtoidentifytheareasforeggsampling.Atotalof45eggcollectionsitesweresampledintheCariboo.Sixofthesitessampledhadeggden-sitiesthatindicatedmoderate-severedefoliationin2012(Table4),mostoftheselocatedinthegeneralareaofQuesnelandHorseflyLakesintheWilliamsLakeTSA(nearTasseLake).IntheThompsonOkanaganRegion,11geographicareaswereidentifiedforeggsamplingwith31-43sitesbeingsampled.IntheKootenayBoundaryRegion,13geographicareaswereidentifiedforeggsamplingwith25-46sitesbeingsampled.Lichen/eggpro-cessingisstillinprogressforthesetworegions.Pendingresultsfromtheeggsampling,5,000to7,500hectaresin each of the three Regions are planned for treatment (B.t.k. application).


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defolIator treatMent Plans for 2012

Approximately90,000hectaresof InteriorDouglas-fir forests are scheduled for treatmentwithForay48B®(Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki, B.t.k.;PCP#24977)forwesternsprucebudwormunderthe“2008-2013SouthernInteriorPestManagementPlan”in2012(Table1).TreatmentswillbetargetedathighprioritystandswithintheThompsonOkanagan,CaribooandKootenayBoundaryRegions.

Douglas-firtussockmothshouldcollapseduringthe2012feedingcycle;howevertherearestillareasofconcernnearVeasyLakeandDeadmanRiver.Assuch,5,000-6,000hectareshavebeendelineatedfortreatmentwithB.t.k.in2012.Eggmasseswillbecollectedandrearedinthespringtodetermineviability.

AllthreeRegionsareanticipatingasignificantincreaseinwesternhemlocklooperpopulationsin2012.Therefore,toreducedefoliationandpreventtreemortality,theCaribooandKootenayBoundaryRegionsareeachplanningtotreat7,500hectares,whiletheThompsonOkanaganplanstotreat5,000hectares(Table1).Foray48B®willbeusedat4.0litresperhectare.Oneapplicationwillbeappliedwhenlarvaeareapproximately3rdinstar.

Region / Defoliator / Application rate Estimated Area (hectares)Cariboobudworm(@2.4L/ha) 40,000ThompsonOkanaganbudworm(@2.4L/ha) 40,000KootenayBoundarybudworm(@2.4L/ha) 10,000Cariboolooper(@4.0L/ha) 7,500ThompsonOkanaganlooper(@4.0L/ha) 5,000KootenayBoundarylooper(@4.0L/ha) 7,500ThompsonOkanagantussockmoth(@4.0L/ha) 5,000Quesnel2-yearcyclebudworm(@2.4L/ha) 1,500Total Estimated Area 116,500

Table1.EstimationofhectarestobetreatedwithB.t.k.byRegionforwesternsprucebudworm,westernhemlocklooper,Douglas-firtussockmothand2-yearcyclebudwormin2012.

Boom truck delivering 1,000 litre mini-bulks of Foray 48B to western spruce budworm spray block loading site.

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MountaIn PIne Beetle, DenDroctonus ponDerosae, IMPact to Young PIne on tfl 35

Background

Themountainpinebeetle,Dendroctonus ponderosaeHopkins, is themostdestructiveinsectofmaturepinesinwesternNorthAmerica.Thepreferredhostsofthemountainpinebeetle(MPB)arelargediameter,maturelodgepole pine (or other native pines). Beetle populations are prone to periodic landscape-level outbreaks. Ma-turestandsmaybeheavilydepletedinafewyearsoverlarge,extensiveareas.ThecurrentoutbreakinBritishColumbia peaked in 2006 at over 10 million hectares of affected forest (mapped in the 2007 aerial overview surveys;BCMFR2008).Duringsuchlarge,aggressiveoutbreaks,youngerstandsarealsoatrisk(SafranyikandWilson2006;MaclauchlanandBrooks2008).

Thereareapproximately15millionhectaresofmaturelodgepolepineforestinBritishColumbia,plustwomillionhectaresofyounglodgepolepine(plantationsandnaturalregenerationfromfireandotherdisturbances)between20-55yearsofage.Thesestandsareintegraltofutureharvests,habitatandforeststructure.Manyyoungstandswere,andcontinuetobe,impactedbytheMPBandassociatedbarkbeetles,althoughatamuchlowerintensityandfrequencythanobservedatthepeakoftheoutbreakinmaturetimber.Historically,youngorsmalldiameterlodgepole pine become a “sink” or last resort for MPB during the declining phase of an outbreak. A beetle “sink” describestreesorstandsthatarenotnormallyhighlysusceptibletoMPBduetoage,size,orlocation,andrelativelyfewMPBbrooddevelopsuccessfullywithinattackedtreesundertheseconditions.ThecurrentoutbreakhasproducedexponentiallygreaterMPBpopulationsoverthelandscape,andconsequentlythephenomenonofyoungstands at risk resulted in markedly higher levels of young stand mortality prior to the collapse of the outbreak.

Normally,lodgepolepinelessthan40yearsoldarenotconsideredatrisktoMPBbecauseofage,diameterandotherattributes(ShoreandSafranyik1992).Howeverasdocumentedabove,manyyoungstandsintheseputa-tivelylowsusceptibleage-andsize-classesarecurrentlybeingkilledbyMPB.

Aprojectwasinitiatedin2005toquantifymortalityduetomountainpinebeetleinyounglodgepolepinestands,wherebothaerialandgroundsurveyswereconductedthroughoutaffectedareas.7,497polygonswereaeriallysurveyed,between2005-2008and2011,representingover266,460hectares(Table1)(Maclauchlan2006;Ma-clauchlanandBrooks2008).Sincetheinitiationofthisproject,over830youngpinestandshavebeenaeriallysur-veyedduringtwoormoreyears,providinganindicationofchangeinextentandseverityofattackovertime.

Survey Number of polygons Area Average AverageYear surveyed1 surveyed (ha) red attack (%) total attack (%)2

2005 1,096 42,576 7.6 9.32006 2,475 87,687 12.4 14.82007 2,065 72,927 21.8 27.72008 1,778 60,692 6.7 27.22011 83 2,578 1.9 25.9Total 7,497 266,4601polygonarea(ha)forTFL35wasnotavailablesothe2011dataonlyshowsthesumofhaonCrownlandthatweresurveyed2 in 2011 only a small area in the Kamloops District was surveyed

Table1.Thistableliststhetotalnumberofpolygonsaerialsurveyedbyyear,theareaofthesepolygons(hectares),andtheaverageredattack(%)andtotalattack(%)(redattackplusgreyattack).

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Figure 1. Mountain pine beetle attack (sum of red plus grey attack) in stands aerially surveyed2005-2008,showingaveragepercenttreesaffectedbyecosystem(averageattack±standarderror).Ecosystemswherelessthan10standsweresampledarenot

shown.ESSF:Engelmannspruce-subalpinefir;ICH:Interiorcedar-hemlock;IDF:InteriorDouglas-fir;MS:Montanespruce;SBPS:Sub-borealpine-spruce;SBS:Sub-borealspruce.

Ingroundsurveys,theincidenceofMPBattackwashighestintheSBPSbiogeoclimaticzone,withthemild,moistICH,warmeranddryIDFandmoistcoolSBSzoneshavingsimilarlevelsofattack(approximately10%)andthecoolerESSFzonethelowestincidenceofattackoverall(MaclauchlanandBrooks2008).Slightvariationwasseenintheaerialdata,whichhadalargersamplesizethanthegroundsurveydata,withtheincidenceofMPBattackhighestintheSBPSandIDF,followedbythecoolerMSandSBS(Fig.1).Overall,theICHandESSFsufferedfarlessimpact.TheaerialsurveysgiveahigherconfidencelevelintheoveralltrendofMPBattackinB.C.andreflecttheknownmaturestandsusceptibilityofthisinsect.

Since2008,therehasbeenverylittledetailedaerialassessmentofyoungpinemortality.How-ever,numerousrequestsinquiringaboutthestatusofyoungpinehavebeenmade.Therefore,inresponsetoaparticularrequestin2011,asurveywasconductedtoestimateyoungpinemortality inandaroundTFL35,northwestofKamloopsnearJamiesonCreek. Polygon-specificaerialsurveysenablealargesubsetofcandidatestandstobeassessedeachyearandcomparedovertimeandisrelativelyquickandsimpletodo.Thesurveyinvolvesavisualestimateofpercentredattackandpercentgreyattackineachstand;plusotherparametersnotdiscussedinthisreport(Maclauchlan2006).Totalattackisthenobtainedbyaddingthesetwovaluesforeachpolygon.Aphotographistakenofeachpolygon.Anareacontainingsixmapsheets (including a corner of Map 092P029) was assessed as per the 2008 methodology onJuly11,2011.

Potential polygons for survey were highlighted on a map based on age (20-55 years) and percentpinecomponent(>80%Pl;or,50-80%Pl).Theareasurveyedrepresentsabout13%of available candidate polygons.

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Area of young pine (ha) Proportion surveyed 20-55 years # polygons in 2011 Avg. %Mapsheet # TFL 35 Crown surveyed TFL 35 Crown attack092I098 130.3 570.2 18 30.0% 35.0% 28.7092I099 525.6 17 28.3% 33.5092P008 65.4 365.4 8 18.0% 4.8092P009 678.7 4 5.4% 10.8092P018 30.2 489.4 15 50.0% 37.0% 13.1092P019 729.2 192 19 23.9% 20.0% 38.8092P029 5.5 474.8 1 1.0% 43Total 2,165.0 2,091.8 76 26.1

Table2.Mapsheetssurveyedin2011formountainpinebeetleattackinyoungpine,showingtheareaofleadingpinepolygons,age20-55yearsbymapsheetinTFLornon-TFLland,thenumberofpolygonssurveyedin2011,theproportionofpolygonssurveyed,andtheaverageattack(%)bymapsheet.

Average percent mortality Crown (non-TFL) TFL 2007 2008 2011 TFL-2011092I088 55.8 33.4 092I097 7.5 092I098 40.7 28.7 22.3 41.3092I099 33.5092P008 2 5.2 6 092P009 10.8092P018 17.7 8.7 15.7 5.8092P019 20 26 29.3 40.3092P029 54.4 37.9 43 Average 37.8 23.7 18.8 32.5

Table3.Percentmortality,averagedbynumberofpolygonssurveyedin2007,2008and2011,inthenon-TFLportionsofsixmapsheets. Average percent mortality for polygons surveyed on TFL35in2011isalsoshown.

Results

Atotalof76polygonsweresurveyedin2011covering4,257hectares(Table2)andtheaver-agetotalattackobservedinthesepolygonswas26.1%(rangingfrom0-77%).Table3andFigure 2 illustrate the MPB attack trend over time. Average mortality on a mapsheet ranged fromalmost5%toover40%mortality.Polygonswererandomlychoseneachyear,whichcould account for the average total attack levels decreasing in some mapsheets over time. As well,greyattackismuchmoredifficulttoobservefromtheairthanisredattack(Fig.2).


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092I098 #476/477 - 2007

092P018 #566 - 2011092I098 #476/477 - 2011

092P018 #566- 2008092I098 #476/477 - 2008

092P018 #566 - 2007

Figure2.Photographsofthreepolygonsin2007,2008and2011.Fromthetop:092I098polygon476and477;and,092P018polygon566.

Attacksince2008hasdeclineddramaticallyintheKamloopsDistrict(Table4).InordertocompareTFL35andadjacentforesttotherestoftheprovince,Table4showstheaveragetotalattack(%)ineachyearsurveyedfrom2005-2008.SomeofthehighestlevelsofmortalitywereobservedintheKamloops(39.9%),100MileHouse(DMH)andotherDistrictsincentralB.C.(Table4).

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References Cited

Maclauchlan,2006.StatusofmountainpinebeetleattackinyounglodgepolepinestandsincentralBritishCo-lumbia.ReportpreparedfortheChiefForester,JimSnetsinger,January23,2006,Kamloops,B.C.

Maclauchlan,L.E.andJ.Brooks.2008.Impactsandsusceptibilityofyoungpinestandstothemountainpinebeetle,Dendroctonusponderosae.FSPProject#M085169–FinalTechnicalReport,April30,2008.MinistryofForests,LandsandNaturalResourceOperations,441ColumbiaStreet,Kamloops,B.C.V2C2T3.

Safranyik,L.andB.Wilson(Eds.).2006.Themountainpinebeetle:asynthesisofbiology,management,andimpactsonlodgepolepine.NaturalResourcesCanada,CanadianForestService,PacificForestryCentre,Victoria,BC. 304 pp.

Shore,T.andSafranyik,L.1992.Susceptibilityandriskratingsystemsforthemountainpinebeetleinlodgepolepinestands.CanadianForestService,PacificForestResearchCentre.Victoria,B.C.Info.Rep.BC-X-336.12p.

Attack observed by year (%) AverageDistrict 2005 2006 2007 2008 2011 Average % attackCentral Cariboo 16.2 11.9 28.7 28.3 19.4Chilcotin 17.1 10.3 18 14.7Cascades 19.4 10.4 14.9Headwaters 7.5 41.9 16.5FortSt.James 9.7 9.7Kamloops 46 37.1 25.9 39.9100 Mile House 3.6 11.4 42.3 37.8 25.3Nadina 6.2 8.6 14.2 8.9 0 7.58Okangan Shuswap 14.3 14.6 14.5Prince George 13.6 16.6 40.5 20.2Quesnel 13.8 19.9 39.2 29.2 25Vanderhoof 6.2 17.3 0 0 0 4.7

Table4.Summaryofmountainpinebeetleattackinyoungpine(age20-55years)surveyedbetween2005-2011.ThetablelistsbyDistrictandyearsurveyed,thetotalpercentattack(redattack+greyattack)observedandtheoverallaverageattackineachDistrict.

Other pests observed in young pine stands.

Left photo: Atropellis canker.

Right photo: porcupine feeding.

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western BalsaM Bark Beetle (Dryocoetes confusus) long-terM MonItorIng

Tenlong-termmonitoringplotswereestablishedbetween1998and2003tofollowthedynamicsof western balsam bark beetle (Dryocoetes confusus)insubalpinefirecosystemsinthesoutherninteriorofB.C.Eachplotisonehectareandalltreesover15cmDBHarepermanentlytagged.Theplotshavebeenassessedseveraltimessinceinitialestablishmentandarenowona5-yearre-measurementcycle.Thelastassessmentwasin2008-2009exceptforoneplot(ScotchCreek),whichwasnotreassesseduntil2011duetoaccessproblems.Theplotlocationswerechosentoreflectarangeofsub-alpinefirhabitatsinwhichD. confusus is active.

IntheeightyearsbetweenthetwoassessmentsattheScotchCreekplot,thepercentoflivetreesintheplotdeclinedbyover12%,from46.7%livein2004to34.5%livein2011.Mostofthemortalitywasinthesub-alpinefircomponentandattributedtoD. confusus,althoughin2011 there was very little current attack in the plot. Figure 1 illustrates the dramatic decline oflivesub-alpinefirintheScotchCreekplotfrom2004-2011andtheincreaseoftreeskilledby D. confususandthosetreesnowontheground(blowdown)(Figs.1,2).Thenumberoftreeskilledbyothercauses(e.g.girdling,pathogens)remainedstableoverthistimeperiod.Ofparticularinterestwasthepresenceofaweevil,Pissodes striatulus,whichwasattackingandkillingsub-alpinefir.P. striatulus was found in four trees in the Scotch Creek plot during the 2011 assessment (all current attack with brood and/or adult weevils present – see photograph below).Thisweevilisactinglikeaprimarybarkbeetlebyattackingandkillingtrees.Inthemostrecentassessmentofthe10permanentsampleplotconductedin2008,2009and2011,eight of the ten plots had evidence of P. striatulus attack. Attack ranged from no attack up to31treesattacked(2.3%)intheBuckMountainPlotwhichiscomparabletoattacklevelsseen by D. confusus.Thereisverylittleknownaboutthisinsectintermsofbiologyorhostselection.

Figure 1. Data from the Scotch Creek one hectare plot comparing the number of live trees (allspecies),numberoftreesdeadfromD. confusus(IBB)attack,deadfromothercauses,two categories of blowdown (those with evidence of IBB attack and those with none) and

trees not found in the 2011 assessment.

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Figure 2. Comparison of live and dead (standing and down combined) sub-alpinefir(Bl)andspruce(Sx)intheScotchCreekplotinthe2004

and 2011 assessments.

Sprucecomposedabout7.5%ofthespeciesinthestand.Sprucemortalityandblowdownwas also a factor in the stand dynamics (Fig. 2) but not to the level as seen in the sub-alpine fircomponent. Aswithmosttree-killingbarkbeetlespecies,D. confususfirstattacksthelargesttreesinastandandsubsequentlymovesintothesmallerdiameterstems.Inthe2004assessment,treeskilledbyD. confusus had an average diameter of 29.4 cm compared to the livesub-alpinefirthathadanaveragediameterof27.0cm(Table1).Treeskilledbyotherfactors were on average smaller than those killed by D. confusus and smaller than the remain-inglivetrees(Table1).In2011thesametrendwasobservedbuttheaveragediameteroftrees killed by D. confususwasslightlyless(28.1cm)(Table1)duetothefactthatmostofthelargesttreeswerealreadydeadordown.TheaveragediameterofD. confusus-attacked treeswasstillgreaterthanlivetreesin2011(Table1).Sprucewerethelargesttreesinthisstand averaging 37.0 cm in 2011.

Tree AverageDBH(cm,±SD)Category 2004 2011Live Bl 26.3 ± 9.2 27.8 ± 10.2LiveSx 34.2±12.6 37.0±13.2Dead Bl - IBB 29.4 ± 7.9 28.1 ± 8.6Dead - other causes 23.4 ± 8.3 25.1 ± 9.4

Table1.Comparisonof2004and2011diameteratbreastheight(DBH)fromlivesub-alpinefirandspruce,anddeadsub-alpinefirintheScotchCreekplot.

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Figure3.Comparisonofthefirstassessmentyearandmostrecentassessmentyearintwo,one-hectareplotsshowingthechangeinnumberoflivetrees(allspecies),deadduetoIBB(D. confusus),deadfromothercauses,blowdown(withandwithoutevidenceofpriorIBB

attack) and trees not found in 2011 assessment.

Patterns of mortality varied from plot to plot with some sustaining ongoing attack by D. con-fusus(Fig.3–BuckMtn.)whileothershadverylittleattack(Fig.3–SpiusCreek-2).Age,moisture regime and other pathogens all play a role in the susceptibility of trees and stands tothebarkbeetle.However,itisclearthatD. confususiscausingsignificantdeclineinsub-alpinefirdominatedecosystems.Afullreportonthisstudywillbeavailablelaterin2012.

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Upper Left: Frass and sawdust on bole of sub-alpine fir under attack by Dryocoetes confusus.

Upper Right: Under bark, Dryocoetes confusus adults.

Lower Left: Gallery, adult and chip cocoon of Pissodes striatulus in sub-alpine fir (photograph by Barbara Zimonick).

Lower Right: View of Scotch Creek plot from access road showing dead and dying sub-alpine fir.

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forest PatHologY uPdate

Blister Rust Screening for Whitebark Pine Launched

MichaelMurray,ForestPathologist,Nelson

Over the past year Kootenay/Boundary Region formally initiated efforts to develop disease resistance within whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis). Whitebark pine grow in subalpine eco-systems and are valuable to wildlife for canopy and providing large seeds in a harsh timber-line environment. Whitebark pine regulates snowmelt and protects soils on steep mountain slopes.Theintroducedwhitepineblisterrustdiseasehasreducedwhitebarkpineoverthepast century and recently mountain pine beetle has further impacted this fragile ecosystem. Dead and dying trees now dominate many settings.

A small proportion of whitebark pine in B.C. is likely to promote defensive mechanisms that ensurethetree’ssurvival.Successfulidentificationoftheseraretreesreliesoncarefulselec-tionfromnaturallyoccurringpopulations.Byidentifyingcandidatesinthefield,wecantesttheir resistance through established rust screening procedures similar to the successful white pine screening program.

In2011,fortytreeswereselectedinB.C.toundergorustscreening.Candidatetreeswereselected based on their vigour and lack of disease signs. Stands were chosen based on acces-sibility and disease incidence. Locations having high disease incidence serve as better sample sites because a greater proportion of non-resistant trees are already dead and therefore the remaining trees are more likely to be resistant.

Protective cages were installed over the cones in early summer to shield seeds from wildlife until they were ripe and ready for collection (Figs. 1 and 2). Cages were placed on cones by climbing or using a tree-tong fabricated for this purpose. We returned in September and Octobertoretrieveabout360cageswithapproximately900cones.Seedswereextractedand sent to two facilities:

1. TheKalamalkaResearchCentre(MFLNRO),nearVernon,receivedseedsfromall40 trees and they will propagate seedlings in 2012 and rear them for at least two years before an inoculation process using the blister rust fungus (Cronartium ribicola).

2. TheDorenaGeneticResourcesCenter,U.S.ForestService,inOregonwillrearandinoculate a subset of seedlings.

Afterinoculations,seedlingsareobservedforseveralyearsforsignsofblisterrust.ResultsbetweentheCenterswillbecompared.Concurrentfieldtrialsusingasubsetofoutplantedseedlings are also anticipated to provide additional comparison.

InadditiontotheKalamalkaandDorenaCentres,valuablepartnersinthisprojectincludetheWhitebarkPineEcosystemFoundation,TheNatureConservancyofCanada,PanoramaSkiArea,andtheColumbiaBasinTrustanditsgrantees(KeeferandAssociates,WhiteBarkConsulting).

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Root Disease Control Trial 1991- 2011: Some Preliminary Findings

Rootrot,inparticularArmillaria ostoyae,causessignificantmortalityofplantationtrees,affectingmostbiogeo-climaticzonesthroughoutsouthernB.C.Removalofstumpsfromthegroundhasbeenconsideredaneffectivetreatmentforreducingdiseasespreadassociatedwithplantedtrees.However,evaluationofthelong-termeffec-tivenessofpost-harveststumptreatmentsislacking.TheKnappenCreekRootDiseaseTrial,nearGrandForks,is one of the earliest established ArmillariatrialsinB.C.Afterharvestingin1989,the30-hectarestudysitewasdividedintofivetreatmentsubunits:1)stumpremoval&rootraking;2)stumpremovalonly;3)plantingonemeterawayfromstumps/majorroots,and;4)planting(noothertreatments).Anadditionalfifthunitisprovidedbyapatchofunharvestedforest.Thesedistincttreatmentsprovideanexcellentopportunitytocomparetheef-fects of stumping on Armillariarootdiseaseasexpressedintheregeneratingcohortoftreeswhichwereplantedin1991(mostlylodgepolepine,Douglas-fir,andwesternlarch).

Duringtheautumnof2011,all20originalplotswerere-locatedandabout3,000permanentlytaggedtreeswerere-assessed for growth and forest health. A previous survey was conducted in 1997.

Figure1.Squirrel(topright)andchipmunk(topleft) harvest uncaged cones from a whitebark

pinenearMoyie,B.C.

Figure 2. Caging whitebark pine cones for blister rust screening.

Armillaria mushrooms.


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PreliminaryfindingsindicateanoticeabledifferenceinincidenceofArmillaria between the treatments. In the stumpremovaltreatment,6.7%oftreeshadsignsofArmillaria,whereas17.0%oftreesinthestump&rootretentionareahadthedisease(Table1).Thepercentofdeadtreeswithineachtreatmentreflectedsimilaroc-currenceswith7.6%and16.8%,respectively.WeexaminedalldeadtreesforsignsofArmillaria and found signsofmycelialfanson62.5%ofthesetrees.Theactualincidencewaslikelyhigher,butmycelialfanimprintsdisappearwithnaturaldegradationofwoodytissueovertime.Anunexpectedfindingrelatestothetwostumpremovaltreatments,whereresultsindicatemorerootdiseaseassociatedwithstumpingfollowedbyrootraking.Thisiscountertotheexpectationoflowerdiseaseincidencewherevermoreinoculumsources(rootsandstumps)areremoved.Thismaybeareflectionofhigherincidenceofrootrotinthevicinityoftheroot-rakedplotsfoundduringtrialestablishment.Differencesintreegrowth(heightanddiameter)asareflectionoftreatmentisnotasevident – with a slightly better overall growth where stumps were removed.

Further analyses are being conducted to compare responses between different tree species. Comparisons between 1997 and 2011 are also being performed.

Treatment Live and Dead Trees Average Growth Dead Trees(location in harvest unit) with Armillaria (%) (height / dbh) (%)Stumpsremoved(NE) 6.7 9.7m/9.1cm 7.6Stumpsremoved+rootsraked(SE) 9.7 9.2m/9.4cm 9.6Stumpsretained+seedlingsplanted1.5mfrom all stumps and large roots (SW) 12.2 8.0 m / 7.8 cm 12.7Stump & roots retained (NW) 17.0 9.3 m / 9.0 cm 16.8

Table1.Measuredobservationswithineachrootdiseasetreatmentblock.

Birch Decline Investigation Continues

Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera)offersavarietyofattributesinB.C.includingsyrup,veneer,beverageflavour,medicinaltonic,andteethcleaner.Thedeclineofpaperbirchhasbeenwidespreadthroughoutthesouthoftheprovince.Characterizedbycrowndie-back,mostmaturebirchappearsusceptible.Thespatialdistributionpat-ternsandactualcausationremainpoorlyunderstood.Beginningin2009,25birchsamplingsiteswereinventoriedintheKootenayBoundaryRegion.Atotalof247treeswereincrementcored.Additionally,severaldozentreeshadcross-sectionscollected.Thesesamplesprovidethematerialtoidentifypossibleperturbationsingrowth,treestress,andbetterunderstandpredisposingfactorsandpossiblelinksbetweenclimateandtreestressarebe-ingexamined.

InOctober,aseparatesamplingwasconductedtotargetfungalpathogens.Birchtreeswereselectedfromsevenlocations(betweenSlocanLakeandSalmo).PaulAndersen(WildfireManagementBranch,KootenayLakeFireZone) felled 26 trees for analysis. Once felled we cut-off upper stem segments where the dieback was occurring. ThelogswerethendeliveredtotheUBCForestPathologyLab,supervisedbyDr.RichardHamelin.Thelabiscurrentlyculturingfungifromthelogsinordertoidentifypossiblepathogens.Thisprocesswillreliablyrevealthevariousfungalspeciespresent.Additionally,samplesofArmillaria mycelialfansarealsobeingidentifiedtospecies using DNA at the Pathology Lab.

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Publications:

Campbell,E.M.;R.E.Keane;E.R.Larson;M.P.Murray;A.W.Schoettle;C.Wong.2011.Dis-turbanceEcologyofHigh-ElevationFive-NeedlePineEcosystemsinWesternNorthAmerica.InKeane,RobertE.;Tomback,DianaF.;Murray,MichaelP.;andSmith,CyndiM.,eds.2011.Thefutureofhigh-elevation,five-needlewhitepinesinWesternNorthAmerica:Proceedingsof theHighFiveSymposium.28-30June2010;Missoula,MT.ProceedingsRMRS-P-63.FortCollins,CO:U.S.DepartmentofAgriculture,ForestService,RockyMountainResearchStation. 154-163.

Murray,M.P.2011.AnnualObservationsofConspicuousCankerActivityonWhitebarkPine(2003to2007).InKeane,RobertE.;Tomback,DianaF.;Murray,MichaelP.;andSmith,CyndiM.,eds.2011.Thefutureofhigh-elevation,five-needlewhitepinesinWesternNorthAmerica:ProceedingsoftheHighFiveSymposium.28-30June2010;Missoula,MT.Proceed-ingsRMRS-P-63.FortCollins,CO:U.S.DepartmentofAgriculture,ForestService,RockyMountain Research Station. 235-237.

Dead and dying paper birch near Yahk.

Acknowledgements:

The authors would like to acknowledge the 2011 aerial surveyors: Neil Emery and Adam O’Grady (Nazca Consulting) - Nelson area

Leo Rankin (B.C. Ministry of Natural Resource Operations, Joe Cortese (Alta Vista Management), Don Wright, Darryl Wright, (Timber Wright Contracting), Bob Erickson - Cariboo area

Kevin Buxton (B.C. Ministry of Natural Resource Operations) and Janice Hodge (JCH Forest Pest Management) - Kamloops area

We would also like to acknowledge Forest Health District, Region, and Branch staff, and forest industry personnel, that made contributions to, and provided data for, this report.

Photos:LorraineMaclauchlan,KevinBuxton,ArtStock,LeoRankin,

MichaelMurray,HeatherRice,HeatherMacLennan,MurrayAllison,DonWright,JaniceHodge,NeilEmery,JoeCortese,BarbaraZimonick,JoanWestfall,DionManastyrski.

Line drawings by Lynn Kristmanson

ThisreportisavailableinPDFformatathttp://www.for.gov.bc.ca/rsi/ForestHealth/Overview.htm

B.C. Ministry of Natural Resource OperationsThompsonOkanaganRegionalOffice

441ColumbiaStreet,Kamloops,B.C.

V2C2T3(250) 828-4179

This summary was prepared by:

Lorraine Maclauchlan, Ph.D., R.P.F., Forest Entomologist (Kamloops)Kevin Buxton, R.F.T., Forest Health Specialist (Kamloops)

Michael Murray, Ph.D., Forest Pathologist (Nelson)

Documents

2011 Overview of Forest Health Aerial for Southern British ... · PDF file2011 Overview of Forest Health ... 2011 Douglas-firTussock Moth Program Summary Report ... Mountain Pine Beetle