Have the beetles won in Alberta too?

The mountain pine beetles have moved into northeastern Alberta.

Officials are surveying the devastation in the northeast. Ted Morton, Alberta's sustainable resource minister, recently said, "We are doing a good job of containing the spread of beetles in southwest Alberta, but an in-flight to our northeast this summer is cause for concern."

Morton is warning that beetle-fighters may pull back to new front lines and give up on trying to save trees in western Alberta.

"Depending on the analysis, and for the sake of both effectiveness and value for dollars spent, we may have to redefine our leading edge zone eastward and to the south, move to salvage operations in the west and to the north, where the potential for beetle control is lost."

Read more:

Beetle war may be lost in Alberta's west: Morton" (Edmonton Journal)