Beetle Probe #3

Beetle Probe #3
Sheila Peters
ink & embossing on aluminum
Smithers
2007

When we hike or wander through the bush around our home near Smithers, we often see the aluminum markers left by prospectors, forest companies, and consultants. Whether half-hidden under a fallen claim stake in the alpine or trailing bright flagging tape in an apparently random line through thick bush, they signal our shifting interests in what the land can give us. Only rarely can we predict what will result. The pine beetle is only one threat to our much loved valley. These three poems explore the uncertainty about that threat, one that has become reality for many of you, a reality you are already living with, adapting to.