Holy Beetles! July 28, 2013
July 28, 2013 1:40 pm Leave your thoughts
This past week has been an interesting one! Kyle and I center lined two roads, which were by far the toughest we have done so far, requiring us to travel through dense brush and swamps. At the end of the day, we felt we had really accomplished something and were able to see the results of our work on GPS.
After replacing the pheromone in the traps, as discussed in an earlier post, we went back to check pine beetle traps for the baiting program, which proved revealing. The traps show that the beetle population has significantly increased overall. The spike in the number of beetles is likely due to a second flight season for the beetles. It’s important to monitor the beetles, so government and industry can decide whether to step up their mitigation efforts, with the ultimate goal of stopping the insect from spreading eastward in the Boreal forest.
At the end of the week, Joseph, a Millar Western Forest Technician, and I worked on repairing a sign at the Huestis Demonstration Forest. Located in Millar Western’s FMA area, the Huestis is a working forest that includes an interpretive drive-through loop and walking trail. It is a place where the public can go to view nature and learn more about sustainable forest management. It showcases some of Alberta’s different forest types, the wildlife that lives there and the different activities – industrial and recreational – that occur within it. Millar Western helps to maintain the forest’s infrastructure, including the signage, which is why we were out there last week.
That sums up this week, I will post a picture in a couple of days!