Sask. supporting Alberta’s battle with mountain pine beetles

The governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan are continuing the battle against the mountain pine beetle.

In a media release Tuesday, the Saskatchewan government announced it had recently committed up to $1 million to controlling the insect in Alberta. It’s part of a three-year agreement with Alberta’s government to try to keep the beetle from spreading into Saskatchewan’s northern forests.

Since 2011, Saskatchewan has invested more than $8.6 million in mountain pine beetle control in Alberta. According to the government, beetles have been found as close as 40 kilometres from the Saskatchewan border, but none of the bugs have been found in Saskatchewan’s northern forests to date.

“The mountain pine beetle outbreak in Alberta continues to be the most significant insect and disease threat to our northern pine forests and the northern Saskatchewan economy that depends on them,” Environment Minister Dana Skoropad said in the release.

“This funding builds on the long-standing and successful co-operation between our provinces, acting as an investment that ensures our forests stay healthy, while continuing to protect Saskatchewan’s forestry sector.”

The government said mountain pine beetles have killed more than half of the merchantable pine in British Columbia and have spread across Alberta.

The release noted the beetles have been detected in the lodgepole pine forests in the Cypress Hills.