Forest Practices > Forest Health > Introduction

Introduction to Forest Health

• What is Forest Health?
• Provincial Organization
• Damaging Agents
• Forest Health Activities
• The Future

Forest health is a part of the Forest Service's Forest Stewardship Division and Operations Division.  These divisions ensure that the harvesting and renewal of the province's forests are carried out in an ecologically sound manner. With the cooperation of forest companies, specific forest management objectives are applied before and after harvesting to ensure that lands logged or burned by wildfires are reforested with healthy, productive young trees.

Forest Health, is responsible for the detection and quantification of forest health problems, and, where necessary, the prescription and implementation of protective or suppressive treatments to anticipate and prevent insect, disease and mammal damage to reforested areas and old growth stands. It also evaluates the effect of forest practices on forest health as these occasionally increase the risk of damage from insects, diseases and mammals.

Forest Health evolved from a concern over catastrophic damage caused by insects such as western spruce budworm and mountain pine beetle, and by root diseases and dwarf mistletoes. Before 1980, the Forest Service relied on the Canadian Forestry Service to supply advice on insect and disease management, but it was determined that a considerable amount of timber volume could be saved if the Forest Service developed its own program.

In 1989, the program, originally called "Pest Management," was re-named "Forest Health" to emphasize the goal of prevention before suppression and the benefits of long term approaches to reduce damage losses and increase the productivity of our forests. In 1991, Forest Health was incorporated into the Silviculture Program.

Western spruce budworm larvae kill thousands of trees each year

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Forest health activities are administered by Forest Stewardship staff in 29 district offices, three regional centres, and Victoria branch offices.

District staff conduct field operations and act as primary contacts with the public, industry, and other organizations concerned with the practice of forestry. They conduct surveys, perform treatments, and develop forest management strategies and programs to minimize damage from insects, diseases and mammals.

Forest Health specialists in the three forest regions (Southern interior, Northern Interior and Coastal Forest Regions) provide professional expertise and diagnostics to district personnel. They provide advice on stand treatments, plan and conduct field research, conduct large-scale detection surveys, and help set district and regional forest health goals and priorities. Regional officers also act as a link between the staff at branch and those at the districts engaged in field activities.

Staff at Forest Practices Branch (Victoria) are responsible for the overall guidance of Forest Health activities. They establish provincial policies and standards, and provide expertise, leadership, and support necessary for the program as a whole.

In addition, they provide current information and professional advice, and develop management and data handling systems. They also act as a link with other government and public agencies, and help to develop and coordinate provincial training strategies. They develop public information documents and advise the ministry executive.

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In the Flathead River Valley during the mid 1970's, over seven million lodgepole pine trees were killed by the mountain pine beetle. By 1984, mountain pine beetle infestations covered over 500 000 hectares province wide. Bark beetles, especially mountain pine and spruce beetles, continue to cause the most damage to our forests, and, to date, have destroyed more timber than any other damaging agents.

Pushover logging with an excavator helps control root disease

Defoliators, tree diseases, and mammals also cause significant damage in the form of reduced growth, top kill, thinned foliage, lost volume, and, in some cases, mortality. They can also lower the aesthetic value of British Columbia's forests and create fire hazards.

In some cases, the damage caused by insects, diseases or mammals can be exacerbated by forest practices. When this is identified, recommendations are made by Forest Health staff to rectify the problem and to prevent further complications from these procedures.

Occasionally, insects and diseases that are not native to the province are detected in British Columbia. These are of concern because if undetected or uncontrolled, a population could become permanently established in British Columbia and potentially cause harm to ecosystems and resources.

Over the past eight years, gypsy moth has been repeatedly introduced in southwestern British Columbia. Eggs and larvae, possibly transported here on the undersides of cars or in the baggage of tourists, have been found on Vancouver Island, the lower mainland, and in Kelowna.

Fortunately these occurrences, mostly confined to urban settings, were detected at an early stage, and eradicated through the application of a bacterial insecticide Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner var. kurstaki (Btk).

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Forest Health Activities

Currently, forest health related surveys include: annual aerial overview surveys, specific operational forest health aerial and ground surveys, silviculture surveys, and special forest health surveys.

Control
Many damaging agents are natural residents of forest ecosystems and are usually innocuous or beneficial when their populations are at endemic levels. For example, bark beetles remove weakened or old trees, aiding in the natural process of forest renewal. When a damaging agent population gets out of hand and causes excessive damage, Forest Health staff determine how to ameliorate the damage and return populations to their natural levels. Management strategies usually involve silvicultural practices, but may also include direct control measures to reduce populations of damage-causing agents.

Spraying B.t.k. (a biological insecticide) to control Western Spruce Budworm

Training
Forest health treatments, including silvicultural procedures and direct treatments, must be carefully planned and monitored to ensure the desired results are accomplished. Consequently, a large number of people in the forest service and related industries must be trained to identify and manage forest insects, diseases and mammals.

Auditing
Forest Health activities are audited to confirm that treatments are effective, that new forests have been successfully established and are growing well, and that treated areas are responding appropriately. Cooperative auditing techniques are being developed to ensure that Forest Health goals will be met as an integral part of the Silviculture Program.

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The Future

The developing Forest Health Subprogram provides substantial benefits including protection of mature trees, employment, wood quality improvement through the reduction of tree deformities and defects, increased recreational use of British Columbia's forests, and more harvestable timber.

Increasingly, Forest Health staff will ensure that management decisions enhance or protect forest ecosystems and will continue to develop and apply treatments that will improve the security of mature forests and enhance the productivity of young stands. By working together with other Ministry staff and industry, Forest Health staff will help maintain British Columbia's forests for the future.

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For more information on the Forest Health program, please contact:

B.C. Ministry of Forests and Range 

Forest Practices Branch

P.O. Box 9513

Stn. Prov. Gov.

Victoria, B.C. V8W 9C2