Go plant a tree,then hug the poor fucker!

**Ironwolf** · 03-21-2009, 03:37 AM

I'm not kidding...All I had for the Edmonton trip was my cell phone camera,so the devastation isn't really evident in my pix.The Pine Beetle infestation ravaging our forests is on a scale you have to see to believe,and when you do,you wish you hadn't. Just a few years ago,last time I went to Calgary,it was healthy, thriving forest...Now,I'd say about 40% of what used to be there is dead and dying.Entire mountains denuded;it looks like a forest of telephone poles.For hundreds of miles, every third tree is brown,dead,dying.Even as far as Edmonton it's evident,and they had hoped a good,sustained,cold winter might kill the fucking beetle,but from what I saw......well,let's say you might want to start hoarding those pencil stubs,broken wooden rulers,and anything else wooden you might usually throw away;it might be worth more than gold someday...The trickle-down is gonna be severe;massive soil erosion in the Rocky Mountains = massive landslides,floods,and in a couple-three decades, that region will become a semi-arid region (like Kamloops is now).Unimaginable weather changes,as the planet adapts to a brand-new ecosystem,and then there's the impact on the food-chain...The next 20-30-50 years is gonna be fuckin' roller-coaster ride for Western Canada,and our friends next door to us...Hold on tight kiddies...it ain't gonna be fun. Oh,almost forgot;ya know how trees supply tha' stuff we breath? LOTS fewer trees = ...well, better start takin' shallow breaths...

**Markous** · 03-21-2009, 04:10 AM

It's the same driving north from Edmonton to Ft McMurray between the forest fires (which in the long run are a good thing) and these damn pine beetles it is a depressing drive for a good part of the 4.5 hour drive espescially when you get into the dense conifer (evergreen) stands. They also have another invasive species up north it's called the asian longhorn beetle they carry a fungus on there bodies that infects the tree when they bore into them to lay eggs.

Two years ago i was working 1/2 an hour south of Fort Crack the tent catipillars where so bad the roads were slippery (the road looked like it was moving) from the amount crossing the road to fresh feedings. It looked like late fall in the middle of July in the decidious (leafy) parts of the forrest. they coated my wheel wells like mud and you could hear them popping as i drove over them it made alot of noise at 90 km/h ( couldn't drive the limit, 100 km/h) even with the music turned up

**Ironwolf** · 03-21-2009, 04:20 AM

Bro, best give Tink an extra little rub and ask her to wiggle her tits...I mean nose...or some damm thing; Manimals is the only critter on the planet that,wholesale,just won't adapt to it's environment:We've tried to bend Mother Nature over so we could do the driving, and She's pissed. Nature abhors imbalance, and will seek to restore that which is off-kilter.And we,as a species, are WAY off kilter.I think there's gonna be a whole lot more natural 'disaster',and an onset of never before seen diseases (naturally occurring),more instance of 'superbugs',and disease that resists conventional treatment,and adapts quickly when treated. Like a poor, tired old dog,this planet is packin' more fleas than she can bear,and is gonna give us one hell of a shake...

**Ironwolf** · 03-21-2009, 04:05 PM

if you're around Colorado,this ain't news to you... http://cbs4denver.com/local/wildfire....2.910714.html

**Ironwolf** · 03-21-2009, 04:21 PM

here's some info about this lil' bastard http://www.toronto.ca/parks/asian-long-horn-beetle.htm

**Ironwolf** · 03-21-2009, 04:26 PM

as of 2006,approx. 1/4 of B.C.'s forest was under attack http://mpb.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/biology/introduction_e.html

**falcon125** · 03-21-2009, 04:28 PM

Originally Posted by Ironwolf

if you're around Colorado,this ain't news to you... http://cbs4denver.com/local/wildfire....2.910714.html

No shit Sherlock

I have been watching our mountains turn brown for years now.
I predict a massive fire season the likes of which have never been witnessed by humans. A little more drought, a little wind and a spark is all its gonna take.

GZB may not have to travel far this Summer to go to work.

**Ironwolf** · 03-21-2009, 04:34 PM

...we're in for a world of hurt...This represents the level of infestation as of 2006 (in B.C.)

**Markous** · 03-23-2009, 03:17 AM

This article brings some hope

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2...e-beetles.html

**Ironwolf** · 03-23-2009, 03:41 AM

keep yer fingers crossed; it would be nice if those numbers were even close,but judging on how they claim (approx) 200,000 trees are affected in alberta (I roughly estimate that I saw perhaps 5-8 times that many trees dead and dying...)...