Musings on Pine Beetle

The pine trees are red
The pine trees are dead
And we are left to wonder
What lies ahead.


Some blame Global Warming for not bringing cold winter weather. Some blame the government for not acting sooner. Hindsight is always perfect. I personally blame no one as I see that would get me nowhere.

The Cariboo Chilcotin Beetle Action Coalition has stated in the 100 Mile Free Press that the communities affected will experience boom and bust cycles for the next three to four decades.
I'm not sure I agree with that assessment but the fact remains all of us that live in the infected areas will be affected in some way. Our communities have been described as being in "transition", but such objective descriptions does not describe the feelings one has when viewing the devestation. Strangely, visitors to our land barely seem to notice until its pointed out... or they may just be being polite...

So many communities are touched by the Bugs, places where people came to live with the land, places with names like 100 Mile House, Williams Lake, Quesnel, Prince George, Vanderhoof, Fort St. James, Fraser Lake, Burns Lake, Houston and Smithers. There are others big and small.

Some say its a catastrophe, others that its an opportunity. One thing is for certain the communities will have to change to survive; and change won't come cheap.
Some will leave, choosing to seek greener pastures in the oil patch or the south, but those like me will stay and do what we can to make the best of a bad situation, to reinvent the village.

I hope this will be a journal, a lasting testimony, to those who decide to stay and steward "transition" and those that join us. I hope others from around the world come in and share their knowledge and experiences about the communities they live in and how they faced their particular difficulties. My objective is for all of us to learn from each other so we may protect and preserve village life; so future generations may experience its simple pleasures.

Graham Stanley
September 17, 2006.