The 2023 Spruce Budworm Control Program is scheduled to begin this week at various sites in western Newfoundland and on the Northern Peninsula, subject to weather conditions. The program proactively targets populations of spruce budworm in an effort to prevent an outbreak of this destructive forest insect.

Aerial treatments will take place at designated forest treatment blocks at various locations north of the Bay of Islands, east of Gros Morne National Park and northward to the Plum Point area.

Up to 111,000 hectares of forest is scheduled to be protected using one or more applications of Btk, a biological control product commonly used in forest pest management that has been approved for operational use by the Health Canada Pest Management Regulatory Agency. Additional information about Btk is available on the Department of Environment and Climate Change website.

Program information including times, locations and maps associated with treatment activities will be available on the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture 2023 Forest Insect Control Program website or by calling the Forest Insect Control Program Daily Update Line at 1-877-636-2996.

Public signage and maps of proposed treatment areas will be posted at forest access roads leading to planned treatment areas.

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