Industry insiders agree that the massive spraying program used in the 1980s won’t be an option now though — the cost is too high, and the public won’t support such an effort. Figuring out how to get threatened trees to market before a defoliation, or during salvage operations afterward, will be key.
“There’s always winners and losers when almost anything like [a spruce budworm outbreak] happens,” Wiley said. “In this case, our current high lynx populations and snowshoe hare populations are a result of the last outbreak.”
On the other side of the coin, he pointed out that deer rely on evergreen trees for winter shelter, and an outbreak of spruce budworm would further decimate wintering areas.
“If we knew the severity and the extent of the [coming] outbreak, we could do some crystal ball work on wildlife impacts,” he said.
