here. - Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations

Conifer Defoliators
Western spruce budworm populations increased
substantially throughout the Campbell Creek, Scuitto
Lake, Stump Lake, Droppingwater Creek, Inks Lake,
Meadow Creek Road, and Logan Lake areas. Defoliated
area more than doubled to 38,375 hectares, and the
area moderately to severely defoliated increased from
less than 5,000 hectares to nearly 12,600 hectares. A
total of 4,572 hectares of high-value Douglas-fir stands
near Duffy Lake and Inks Lake were treated with Foray
48B (B.t.k.) to reduce budworm populations and damage.
Egg mass samples collected during the fall of 2012
indicate that budworm populations will remain high in
unsprayed areas in 2013, with 47 of 92 sites predicting
moderate or severe defoliation. The highest populations
are expected to be in the Stump Lake, Bleeker Lake, and
Meadow Creek Road areas.
Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, Kamloops, B.C.
18
Western spruce budworm defoliation near
Droppingwater Creek, Kamloops TSA.
2012 was an “on” year in the feeding cycle of two-year cycle budworm, and defoliation has increased by nearly
three-fold from 2010. Total area affected was 21,665 hectares, most of which was classified as light. Affected
stands were primarily in the Mad River, Raft River, Silence Lakes, and Murtle Lake areas.
Douglas-fir tussock moth populations were active in a small area around the old Carquile Rest Area north of
Cache Creek, where 49 hectares were moderately to severely defoliated. No other current defoliation was observed.
An additional 1,970 hectares of Douglas-fir were classed as having sustained mortality. This, combined
with the previously mapped 7,740 hectares of mortality, brings the total to just over 9,700 hectares that have
sustained some level of mortality during this outbreak cycle.
Pheromone trapping and larval beatings conducted in 2011 indicated that western hemlock looper populations
were increasing in the North Thompson. Just over 4,000 hectares were treated with Foray 48B (B.t.k.) in early
July to reduce larval populations; as a result of this and natural population decline, no defoliation was visible
during the aerial surveys. 472 hectares of hemlock was lightly defoliated along Azure Lake in Wells Gray Park;
however due to the remote location and protected area status, populations are not being monitored and no control
actions are being considered.
Pine needle sheath miner again defoliated three separate lodgepole pine plantations near O’Connor Lake and
Jamieson Creek, as well as a plantation just off the Cahilty Main west of the Adams Lake Sawmill. A total of 98
hectares were affected. No long term damage has occurred at any of the sites but more than one year of defoliation
can lead to growth reductions.
Deciduous Defoliators and Decline Syndromes
Aspen serpentine leaf miner continued to cause widespread damage, mainly in the Wells Gray Park, Mad
River, Vavenby, Adams River, Eakin Creek, and Hyas Lake areas. Defoliation was mapped on 27,714 hectares,
down slightly from 2011 levels of 33,162 hectares. Populations of birch leaf miner increased slightly, with area
defoliated totaling 1,065 hectares. Most damage was in the Eileen Lake, Fadear Creek, and lower Adams Lake
areas. Forest tent caterpillar moderately to severely defoliated 854 hectares of mixed deciduous forest near
Cayenne Creek and in the upper Adams River.