Jay
Hill Confirms New Federal Attack on the Spread of the
Mountain Pine Beetle
Friday, March 23, 2007
OTTAWA – The Honourable Jay Hill, Member of Parliament
for Prince George-Peace River, confirmed today that the
Conservative Government will contribute $24.8-million
to a joint federal-provincial effort to help control the
spread of the mountain pine beetle along British Columbia’s
eastern border.
“We are launching a renewed attack on the spread
of the beetle where still possible,” said Hill.
“Yet we are also acting to address public safety
concerns by reserving some of the funding to remove beetle-killed
trees in public parks and develop fire-hazard ratings
in the hardest hit areas.”
Hill added that the majority of the funding, $21.3-million,
is allocated for the Peace Forest District. The Columbia,
Headwaters and Rocky Mountain forest districts will receive
the remaining $3.5-million. These are areas where there
is still an opportunity to slow down the eastward spread
of the beetle. The funding is part of the Conservative
Government’s $200-million Federal Mountain Pine
Beetle Program.
For regions of B.C., such as the Prince George area, where
efforts to control the spread are no longer effective,
the Conservative government is focusing on other initiatives,
including improvements to local economic infrastructure.
The first commitment to this initiative was announced
in January 2007 by Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn,
allocating $11.3-million for the Prince George Airport
runway expansion. This project will create approximately
377 new jobs in Prince George that may help to mitigate
job losses related to the mountain pine beetle.
“Our government’s approach to battling the
mountain pine beetle since taking office just over a year
ago has been swift and realistic,” stated Hill.
“We’re working with the province to fight
the pest where we can and to fund economic alternatives
where we must.”
Hill added that more details related to the allocation
of federal mountain pine beetle funding will be made in
the coming weeks.
-30-
|
