THE CANADIAN PRESS

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EDMONTON - Alberta's forest industry wants Ottawa to use large controlled forest fires as part of a plan to keep the mountain pine beetle from spreading east across the province into the rest of Canada.

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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/The Gazette, Hunter McRae, File

A mountain pine beetle crawls out of a ponderosa pine tree while another, right, remains in its hole, in this Aug. 24, 2006, file photo.

On Wednesday, the province announced that new swarms of the tree-killing insects flew into Alberta this summer from B.C. and the mountain parks.

Ted Morton, Alberta's sustainable development minister, said the beetles are threatening the boreal forest, the forest industry, jobs and the environment.

The Alberta Forest Products Association says the main fight against the beetles should shift from B.C., where the bugs have already destroyed one quarter of mature lodge poll pine trees, to Alberta.

Association executive director Brady Whittaker says Ottawa should spend at least $50 million in the first year of a five-year beetle strategy in Alberta and assume responsibility for the front-line fight.

Whittaker says the Prime Minister's office has indicated that Environment Canada and Natural Resources Canada are working with Alberta on a new beetle plan.