WASHINGTON —South Dakota is receiving an additional $1 million from the USDA Forest Service to thwart the spread of the pine mountain beetle in the Black Hills National Forest.
The mountain pine beetles' propensity to kill trees and alter wood properties is being studied in a pair of fatal sawmill explosions and fires in British Columbia. Both the Babine Forest Products mill in Burns Lake and Lakeland Mill in Prince George reportedly were processing mountain pine beetle logs that might have generated finer dust particles.
According to the Sioux City Argus Leader, the additional funds are on top of $8.5 million already budgeted to combat the pesky beetle in the 1.2-million-acre forest in South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming.
Much of the effot to stop the spread of the beetle and potential wildfire risk has involved thinning the forest with varying degrees of success.
Rich Christianson is Associate Publisher and Editor at Large of Woodworking Network. During his 25+ years covering the wood products industry, Rich has toured hundreds of manufacturing plants throughout North America, Europe and Asia. His reporting has covered everything from the state of the industry and impact of wood imports to technology and environmental issues. In his current capacity he is responsible for editing the daily Woodworking Network Update newsletter and coordinating events including the annual Cabinets & Closets Conference & Expo and Canada’s biennial Woodworking Machinery & Supply Expo.
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