Mountain Pine Beetle Yard Management Program

The Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB) is still making headlines and the population of these pests within our harvesting areas continues to grow. SLS follows strict requirements for hauling wood from known beetle areas. However, beetle infested trees could be hauled into our mill yard from areas that weren’t known to contain beetles. If this happens it is possible that live beetles could emerge from the logs and fly to other locations. This is something we are committed to preventing.

So how do we prevent beetles that come from our logs from flying off?

We set up a trapline.

Studies have shown that the proper spacing and clustering of pheromone traps is a successful way of containing Mountain Pine Beetles. Some of you may already have noticed several odd stands along the south and east sides of the east yard. Funnel traps baited with pheromones, a scented lure attractive to both male and female beetles, will be hung from each these stands. The traps will be hung in clusters of three, and to the beetles, may resemble tree trunks. The baits don’t kill the beetles but once beetles enter the funnels they are unable to fly away and end up “trapped.”

The model chose corridor locations based on an interpretation of the current DEMs in balance with other parameters such as sidehill slopes, limiting stream crossing frequency, and maintaining grades. Final locations will be determined through intensive ground truthing and compatibility with FireSmart or Mountain Pine Beetle control strategies.

How important is the location of the stands

The spacing of the trap clusters is important to the success of the program. The scent from the baits is effective over a short distance so maintaining spacing throughout the beetle season, June to October, is critical to success. The trap locations must also comply with our government approved beetle containment plan.

More Info

Mountain Pine Beetle Presentation
Mountain Pine Beetle Brochure
Managing Mountain Pine Beetle Timelines