All spray activities with the Spruce Budworm Early Intervention Control Program for 2020 are complete. The program was carried out by the Department of Fisheries and Land Resources in July at specific locations on the Great Northern Peninsula to protect the region’s forest resource from future outbreaks of the destructive insect and reduce the need for full treatment programs in the coming years.

This year’s program treated approximately 35,583 hectares of forest with Btk, a biological control agent commonly used in forest pest management, which has been approved for operational use by the Health Canada – Pest Management Regulatory Agency.

Forestry staff will monitor the treated areas to assess the impact of this year’s early intervention efforts and to determine what insect management strategies may be required next season.

Information about this year’s program including maps of treatment areas can be viewed at the Department of Fisheries and Land Resources website.

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Media contact
Craig Renouf
Fisheries and Land Resources
709-637-2923, 640-6922
craigrenouf@gov.nl.ca