Tree Canada has extended the deadline for the 2014 Alberta Mountain Pine Beetle ReLeaf program until Aug. 31.
This program subsidizes the cost of replacing trees lost to the advance of this invasive insect which destroys native pine trees. This is the second year of the program to help residents, landowners and municipalities.
The mountain pine beetle arrived in west-central Alberta for the first time in July 2006, when strong winds carried insects to the region from central B.C., a distance of 400 kilometres. The beetle attacks all pine species, most notably lodgepole pine, the provincial tree. It will also attack Jack pine and the endangered whitebark and limber pines.
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Residents who had individual trees killed by mountain pine beetle may apply for a rebate of $80 off the cost of a landscape tree. The online application and one or two photos of mountain pine beetle damage can be sent to the Tree Canada community adviser for review and approval.
Private landowners who have shelterbelt trees or landscape trees around their yard killed by mountain pine beetle will be able to apply for tree seedlings or potted trees up to a five-gallon-pot size, for a maximum amount of $3,000. Municipalities that have had trees killed by mountain pine beetle can receive up to $5,000.
For more information, visit the Tree Canada website.
