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SpaceWaveRider,
We can but hope that it'll work, but I'm not too confident. 2 years ago there was hope, even confidence, that the Rockies would stop the beetle. Can't get a bigger fire wall than that. But it didn't pan out at all.
Meanwhile, the little critter has developed a taste for both far younger pine, as well as other species of trees, notably spruce.
From previous years, I seem to recall the opinion being that there was no chance a controlled burn could possibly separate the forest wide enough to keep the beetles from making it across (sorry, couldn't find a link). Considering the size of the area the pine beetle is currently infesting, I just can't see a successful firewall program. Practically and politically, I don't think they could burn enough of the woods to do it.
The only real chance they have, which is getting less likely with every passing year, is for a prolonged extreme cold in the winter to kill them off. The pine beetle isn't being reported as such, but it is very much a consequence of global warming. The beetle was controlled by those days a few degrees colder and lasting an extra period of time. This hasn't happened for a few years now. And as the north grows warmer, the beetle can edge further in that direction as well. The non-mountainous regions have little chance at all of getting a cold snap of the type required.