Almost every pine tree in Kamloops is either dead or dying as a result of the spreading mountain pine beetle infestation which arrived in the community this summer, say city officials.

They predict that the Interior city will lose 75 per cent of all its trees within the next two years.

Kamloops parks spokesman Kelly Johnston says there was no escaping the mountain pine beetle invasion.
   
"We did have a prevention program, but it's been overwhelmed with the sheer number of beetles flying into town."

Works crews are now cutting down dead trees in city parks and burning them in small fires.

Johnston said the city has no choice but to dispose of the beetle-infested wood because of public safety concerns and the threat of wildfires in the city of 85,000.

"In areas of close proximity to homes, they're going to fall on the homes or they could fall on people. They also become a lot more flammable once they've been attacked and turn red."

Johnston says the city will spend $5 million to cut down and burn off dead trees on city land. Private homeowners must foot the bill to dispose of trees in their backyards.

The mountain pine beetle epidemic has already killed most of the pine trees in the B.C. Interior, and has spread to Alberta. There have been warnings the beetle could spread through the boreal forest across the country.

According to Natural Resources Canada, the beetles can play an important role in the life of a forest. There is a big "however" that follows that assertion.

"They attack old or weakened trees, speeding the development of a younger forest," says an entry in the Canadian Forest Service website.

"However, unusual hot, dry summers and mild winters in central British Columbia during the last few years, along with forests filled with mature lodgepole pine, have led to an epidemic."

Among other things, the small creatures introduce a fungus into the sapwood of the tree that prevents it from repelling or killing the attacking beetles.

They also block water and nutrient movement in the affected trees.