How should stands of trees killed by pine beetles be cut down, where should logging take place, and when is the best time to harvest that wood?
UNBC ecosystem science and management professor Art Fredeen is working on finding the answers, ones that will best suit the forest industry, environmentalists and society, and now he has the money to do it.
UNBC has been given a $100,000 grant to fund a two-year research project that will be used to help shape provincial forest management policy to deal with stands of dead pine.
"With climate change in mind, the carbon stored in wood longterm is a good thing for the atmosphere, but if we burn it for bioenergy it ends up in the atmosphere right away, causing climate change," Fredeen said.
"There is a desire to maximize the amount of carbon storage, either in forest or wood products. Bioenergy or to a lesser extent, pulp and paper are not good options if you want to store carbon."
Originally, scientists believed the shelf life of beetle-killed wood for lumber would be only few years but Fredeen has talked to mill workers who are still finding good quality lumber in affected pine tree logs. He said the shelf life might be one or two decades, depending on how wet the climate of the forest is.
The B.C. pine beetle infestation covers an area of 17.5 million hectares, similar in size to New Brunswick. While most stands of pine trees in the affected areas are now dead, Fredeen says those trees, as long as they remain standing, are not releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, as was originally feared.
"What we're seeing still is a lot of clearcuts, they're not just taking the dead trees, they're taking everything, and those living trees that weren't attacked are the ones that could remain photosynthetic sinks of carbon," said Fredeen.
"So when we measure the greenhouse gases coming off these clearcuts they're very high because they have decomposition occurring and no photosynthesis occurring."
The pine beetle problem originated in 2004 when it was first noticed in Tweedsmuir provincial park. Years of mild winters allowed the beetles to survive the coldest months and the infestation spread rapidly over the central interior and northeastern B.C.
Fears of an increased forest fire hazard as a result of pine needles falling on the forest floor have diminished, according to Fredeen, largely because most of those needles have now had time to decompose.
He's also noticing other species thriving next to dead pine trees as they take advantage of more available light and water.
"We really want to be careful about exaggerating the death of these forests, it's a rejuvenation, a rebirth," said Fredeen.
The grant is part of a $450,00 research study funded by the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions to study the impact of climate change on forests and develop more sustainable forest management practices. UBC and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives are also involved in the research, which will involve three stages.
Andy Black of UBC will be measuring greenhouse gases emitted from partially-cut and clearcut areas and comparing those levels to stands of pine that haven't been logged.
Fredeen, with help from UBC-Okanagan graduate student Wyatt Klopp of Williams Lake, will look at the off-site uses of beetle wood and comparing the greenhouse gas costs of each product.
They will use models to determine the how much carbon will be released transporting those logs to the mills and whether it is worthwhile to build the logging roads needed to access those forests of dead trees.
The third component will be the working with government, industry and other forest end-users to formulate of policies to deal with stands of dead pine.
