The presentation will show our analysis overlaying harvest blocks on the accumulated Aerial Overview Surveys for forest health from 2014 to Feb 2020. This data will show an alternate view from the current paradigm that the spruce beetle is being well managed.  And that there are actually much less than the stated 250,000 ha of affected stands in the Prince George district when a beetle severity filter is applied. Using government data, our GIS analysis shows that 70% of the harvest in spruce leading stands was in less than 10% beetle severity and 59% was in less than 1% beetle. The presentation will also show excerpts from the Licensee 2020 Beetle Action Plan regarding old growth and impacts of proposed harvest on the Prince George Landscape Order. The presentation will finish with on what is being done and ideas to improve forest management.

The Natural Resources and Environmental Studies Institute (NRESi) at UNBC hosts a weekly lecture series at the Prince George campus. Anyone from the university or wider community with interest in the topic area is welcome to attend. Due to the Covid19 pandemic all talks this semester will be available online only via Zoom. Go to http://www.unbc.ca/nres-institute/colloquium-webcasts to view the presentation remotely.

Past NRESi colloquium presentations and special lectures can be viewed on our video archive, available here.