British Columbia’s provinical government has increased the northern interior’s allowable annual timber harvest by a third in a bid to thwart the advance of the mountain pine beetle.
The annual harvest in the Prince George region, where the infestation is worst, has been raised 2.9 million m3 to 12.2 million m3.
However, lumber producers warn that markets are already oversupplied and shipments to the US are now subject to duties.
The infestation is spread over about 1.5 million acres of lodgepole pine in an area measuring 14 million acres, with 50-60 sawmills affected.
