Did the beetles win?

"The mountain pine beetle epidemic is largely over. The bad news is that it's because they don't have any food left to eat. The vast majority of our pine stands have been killed at this point, and we are really in a salvage mode," said B.C.'s Forests Minister Pat Bell.

The ministry of forests and range estimates that the mountain pine beetle has now killed 620 million cubic metres of timber, the equivalent of 620 million telephone poles. More than 14.5 million hectares, an area more than four times the size of Vancouver Island, have been hit.

"If we don't do anything, mills will close." said Pat Bell. "Right now, if it was status quo, we are looking at a [harvest reduction] provincewide of about 12 million cubic metres a year. Depending on the size of the mill, that's eight to 12 mills."

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Pine beetle running out of food, mills out of wood - Industry eyes protected areas (The Vancouver Sun)