Compromising the Environment?: The Spruce Budworm, Aerial Insecticide Spraying, and the Pulp and Paper Industry in New Brunswick

Continual growth of the New Brunswick's pulp and paper industry since the late 1920s eventually brought the industry into conflict with the eastern spruce budworm (Choristineura fumiferana). This paper explores the evolution of budworm management since the 1950s, through an examination of the justifications behind the chosen control strategy of aerial insecticide spraying and the development of these justifications over time; through an examination of the criticisms of the spray program and the forest management practices that were linked to it; and, through an analysis of the design of the proposed control program for assessing responses to past criticisms.