A notice about the Douglas fir bark beetle control activities at Lac des Roches appeared in the Free Press earlier this year. Rick Stock, Forest Health Technologist at the 100 Mile House District Ministry of Forest office confirmed that the control activities would proceed as planned this spring and fall. The plan is to fall 30 Douglas fir trap trees at 5 sites on the north side of Highway 24 by April 15. These flagged and numbered trap trees are left to attract the beetles that fly in hunt of their food source during the summer months. In the fall, a ground survey is conducted to determine if the beetles were contained in the felled trees or if surrounding overflow trees were also infested and need to be removed. The contractor will log or burn the infected trees. Heli-logging is probable with potential landings and decking sites next to the highway. Burning will occur at the falling site if the tree wood is low quality or too long of a flight to make heli-logging viable. Stock mentioned that there is a Douglas fir beetle problem on the south side of the lake but the steep terrain and flight distance makes it too expensive to control. I searched a recommended website and found an interesting 59 page report named "Southern Interior Forest Region Pest Management Plan", covering several Forest Management Areas and the monitoring and methods of control for dealing with 5 identified pests attacking our forests. This is a worthwhile read, especially if you have highspeed Internet access, www.for.gov.bc.ca/rsi/foresthealth/entomology/publications.html. Questions about the program may be directed to Rick Stock at 395-7886.
Outsmarted
Readers may recall an article that appeared in the Cariboo Connector last September stated that evidently wasp nests built high off the ground foretold of a "long and harsh" winter. I commented in my October column that we found a wasp nest in the top of an aspen tree about 40 feet off the ground. That seemed pretty high off the ground to me. The signs were there, but judging by our dwindling woodpile outside, I wonder if we prepared well enough? This winter may not have been so harsh, but it most certainly continues to be long. I think the wasps were right!
Pesky problems
We have a pesky problem during the winter months. There is a section of our roof that receives no sunshine, which allows the buildup of snow, which turns to ice and just sits on the roof. In spring, as the sun, moves further and further to the south in the sky, the ice slowly melts and eventually, little by little, slides off the roof. I happened to be standing near the corner of the house at noon on April 14 when the very last piece of ice came off the roof. Hooray, my pesky winter problem was gone! Then I walked 40 feet, to the other side of the house where the snow-free patches of brown grass get bigger every day from that same wonderful sun, when I stopped short. There in the field, munching on the brown grass was this year’s first gopher. Drat, our pesky summer problem has returned.
Ice-off may be late
In addition to our unseasonably cold weather, the ice on the lake is a hot topic of conversation among the residents this year. For only one day this year, there has been melted snow on top of the ice. In fact, due to the cold weather and snow we received later in the winter, there are two layers of ice on the lake. The frozen snow on top and the frozen layer of lake ice beneath it. If this cold weather continues, we may be hard pressed to see the ice off the big lake by the May long weekend, which begins a little earlier this year. There could be a few disappointed residents who use the upcoming holiday as the year’s first excursion into the Cariboo. There just may be no water at the lake.