Overall, Saskatchewan isn’t battling a major case of the pesky and destructive mountain pine beetle although the southwest corner is dealing with an outbreak in the Cypress Hills region. Rory MacIntosh with the Ministry of Environment says the northern boreal forest hasn’t seen any activity of the beetle. He says the beetle has never existed in those parts of the province. While Cypress Hill is dealing with an outbreak that has been going on for some time now, it happens to be the regions’ second outbreak with the first taking place in the 1980’s. MacIntosh says one of the more effective ways of controlling the beetle is by finding it on the ground, marking the trees, cutting them down and burning them. MacIntosh adds the method is very labour intensive but it helps out significantly when conducting aerial surveys. Recently, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce asked the federal government for immediate funding to help stop the destructive mountain pine beetle. The Chamber of Commerce would like to first see the government start by providing Alberta $100 million dollars to fund the province’s efforts against the mountain pine beetle.