Albertans might grumble about shivering through a freezing December, but all that cold weather is good news for provincial forests plagued by pine beetles.

Lower-than-average temperatures last month will kill a higher percentage of pests — although a late start to the chilly weather means it might not be enough.

“By the models, they need a 97 per cent winter kill rate just to maintain the levels we’re at. One infested tree can create seven to 10 infested trees, so we would be very hopeful that this cold snap we’ve had has at least hit that 97 per cent mark, if not more. We won’t know for a while yet,” said Parker Hogan, spokesperson for the Alberta Forest Products Association.

After devastating pine forests in neighbouring B.C. for over a decade, the parasitic insects made their way into Alberta’s western forests several years ago.

The ravenous bugs, already responsible for destroying forests the size of the Maritimes, have now infected over 1.5 million trees in Alberta’s Canmore, Grande Prairie and Grand Cache regions.

“It’s been a significant impacter in Western Canada and throughout the whole western part of North America. They’re fighting it all the way down, even as far as New Mexico. It’s a pretty big deal,” said Hogan.

The province’s forestry industry, already hit hard by an American mortgage crisis that saw demand for lumber plummet, is scarcely able to cope with rampant infestations.

“We’ve seen almost every operating company in the province take some form of downtime, reduce shifts or close for a few weeks. It is a very slow time and we got hit, along with everyone else, with this big credit whammy,” said Hogan.

Safe harvest strategies require that infested areas be the first to get the chop so as to minimize the beetles’ spread, but that creates large supplies of pine lumber in a market where no one’s buying. The poor economy and beetle infestations shut down 10 small pulp mills in Alberta last year.

Hogan said the trend needs to be reversed.

“The B.C. pine forests have been devastated. We’re also in a position where they’ve had to harvest in those infested areas, so that’s created a higher supply of pine wood that needs to be used in a short period. That’s a catch-22 position the industry is in. We have an obligation to do everything possible to mitigate this threat,” he said.

On top of colder temperatures, Hogan said the industry is hoping for high snowfall throughout the winter. The more water in the ground, the better pine trees will be able to fight the beetles.

“A higher level of moisture content will allow trees to use their natural ability to fend it off. But aside from mother nature’s help, we need both the provincial and federal governments to continue their active involvement to support . . . the industry,” said Hogan.

Contact Paige Aarhus at paarhus@reddeeradvocate.com