B.C. pine beetle plague may be near end: minister

After more than a decade of devastation, B.C.'s Forests Minister says the plague of the Pine Beetle may finally be over.

"If you look across the province of British Columbia now, the pine beetle is really on the decline. Unfortunately, that's as a result of it running out of food at this point," minister Pat Bell told reporters at the legislature in Victoria Tuesday.

The pine beetle infestation has ravaged nearly 25 per cent of B.C.'s pine trees, turning vast swaths of once-green forests into a rusty brown.

Bell said the province is now in salvage mode, looking for ways to make up for the dwindling timber supply. With new forest management practices, the supply could last until 2020, Bell said.

But the challenge will be to find a market for it. The province announced a new initiative today, the Wood First Act, that will see more B.C. wood used as the primary material in the construction of all government buildings.

"About $3 billion worth of provincial infrastructure will be built every year, so it's really good for the forest industry," Bell said.

The province's sawmills, however, still face a short-term lack of demand for their products, according to one lumber executive.

'Feel-good legislation'

"The sawmills are very concerned about demand, the marketplace, and that's really at the heart of all of our issues in British Columbia," said Brian Hawrysh, CEO of B.C. Wood Specialties Group.

"We've never seen demand drop as quickly as we have over the last three years," Hawrysh said.

He also did not appear hopeful about Bell's announcement.

"This is about more than just building big buildings out of wood," Hawrysh said.

The B.C. New Democrats echoed Hawrysh's view.

"This is a feel-good piece of legislation," said NDP MLA Norm Macdonald. "But the reality is this will do absolutely nothing for forest-dependent communities, for forest workers. It is simply not the answer that we need." legislature

But Bell disagreed, saying the initiative is a first step that will help tide the industry over until the demand for wood bounces back with the end of the global recession.

"As China comes on, the U.S. comes back, we'll see harvesting levels lift, and employment levels will clearly be higher than [they are] today," Bell said.