As wildfires continue to increase in frequency and severity, the Kaslo and District Community Forest Society (KDCFS) has taken action now having completed their recent wildfire risk reduction project, covering approximately 10 hectares of local land.
“The project allows us to reduce the fuel loads and to increase the wildfire resiliency of our communities.” said Jeff Reyden, Manager of KDCFS.
“Living in the mountain terrain makes wildfire resiliency a bit challenging compared to other jurisdictions with flatter ground.”
“We’re in the age of wildfires, so we can’t avoid them. Eventually, most of our communities will be threatened by wildfire, as Kaslo was in 2022. We had one fairly close, which made us really look at how we could increase our community’s welfare resiliency through projects such as this.”
With funding support from the Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC), the fuel reduction work focused on selectively removing trees to reduce the high fuel content and excess forest debris within a high-use recreation area that has an extensive bike trail network. This fuel reduction treatment will help protect the community from wildfires and serve to enhance both wildlife habitat and recreational values.
“As wildfire seasons grow longer and more intense, projects like this are critical for reducing fuels in forests near communities,” said Ravi Parmar, Minister of Forests.
“My thanks go to the Kaslo and District Community Forest Society for taking on this important community-driven work, better protecting our forests and communities while creating jobs for local workers and contractors.”
The treatment area was initially identified in the Kaslo Community Wildfire Protection Plan as a priority treatment area, as the site had the forest characteristics, location, and attributes to be considered high-risk, from the perspective of community wildfire risk reduction.
The project complements the goals and objectives of the Village of Kaslo’s ongoing FireSmart and fuel modification programming to better protect the community from future wildfires.
“Funding this project aligns with FESBC’s purposes to help create a more fire-resilient community and restore a recreation area that has a well-used trail network within it,” noted Travis Emsland, Registered Professional Forester (RPF), Operations Manager with FESBC, adding that the total amount of funding allocated for the project was $96,900.
“This was a full phase wildfire risk reduction project, from a pre-treatment survey including wildfire assessment plots, to Treatment Unit layout, to the development of a Fuel Management Prescription (FMP) and implementation of the work, which was a manual, thin from below treatment.” said Reyden.
Thinning from below involves removing the ladder fuels, which are the smaller trees that are suppressed beneath the upper layer of a forest, favouring the most vigorous, healthy trees which helps improve overall forest health. Ground fuels are also removed, as well as pruning the residual stems up to 2 metres.
According to Reyden, the pre-treatment surveys started in the spring of 2023, followed by FMP development later that summer.
John Cathro, a long-time Kaslo resident and forester with a background in wildfire risk reduction, was hired by KDCFS to develop the FMP, which is required prior to conducting forestry activities of this type on Crown land.
“FMPs are planning documents that describe the site, identify the values to be protected, provide cutting specifications, and set our fire behaviour objectives to be achieved,” said Cathro.
Feedback received from private landowners and community members has been positive, with some recreation groups talking about building additional trails within the treated area due to its park-like setting following the work.
“We know from seeing the response to devastating fires over the last few years, and just last summer when Kaslo was surrounded by fires in both the New Denver and Argenta areas, that local knowledge and planning is key when preparing for fire season in the Kootenays,” said Brittny Anderson, MLA for Kootenay-Central.
“It’s great to see funding from the province for local organizations like the Kaslo and District Community Forest Society to take on this essential risk reduction work. We’re better when we work together.”
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