Experts are predicting the spruce bud worm will be making a comeback in New Brunswick's forests. And the city of Moncton is going to be ready for the attack.

The city of Moncton has about 15,000 acres of land to protect from the spruce bud worm.

Heather Hawker, a forest technician for the city, says about 60 per cent of the city's trees are vulnerable to an outbreak.

The Canadian Forest Service in Fredericton says the bud worm is expected to peak again within the next three to five years.

Hawker says the bud worm population is fairly low now, but as the seasons become warmer, the bud worm population will grow.

"If you look around the province, not only private land is being looked at, but crown land," she says. "They realize that this information is very valuable. I mean we only have a small fraction of what land is owned in the province and we're all looking at this information very seriously."

Hawker says the city has a five-year forest management plan. It includes cutting down some trees in high-risk areas. That includes City-owned parks such as Centennial, Mapleton and Irishtown. About 30 per cent of the trees will be cut down within the next ten years.

"We want to have healthy forests and healthy parks for well into the next century," she says.

Hawker says horses will be used to carry out the work in some areas because the animals aren't as hard on the forests as heavy machinery.