It's sort of a judgement game as well. Some people's tolerance may be zero, and if that's the case maybe they shouldn't be living here. But there are also other things we can do, like conforming the shape of the clearcut to the landscape. It doesn't have to be square. Chambers admits the logging plan, which could see 11,060 hectares of forest cut down in the region, will not stop the spruce beetle infestation.
Nothing can stop that.
It's simply a plan to use the wood. But some of it can be used for firewood, some can be used for timbers and some pulp. We just have to determine what's the most appropriate method of removing it. Spruce beetles have killed more than 40,000 hectares of white spruce trees in that region. The beetles, about three-sixteenths of an inch long, burrow into the trees' bark and release a chemical that attracts other beetles.