First Stages of Provincial Wildfire Risk Reduction Project Near Completion
This essential fire reduction plan is part of an annual Provincial $20 million investment administered through the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations, and Rural Development, funded by the Crown Land Wildfire Risk Reduction (WRR) program.
"For the past months, there has been a lot of activity around the resort involving chainsaws, cutting of trees, and trucking of logs," says Michael J. Ballingall, Senior Vice President of Big White Ski Resort Ltd. "This is an essential risk management project that will continue in the controlled recreational boundaries at Big White Ski Resort."
Big White Ski Resort resides in an area that is recognized as a high wildfire risk area. Therefore, selective logging practices around the resort have been a part of the Provincial fuel management treatments program to protect the public, property, and essential infrastructure. The first stage of the WRR program includes thinning the forests through mechanical and manual falling, pruning, removing surface fuels, and pile burning or fibre removal will continue around the resort.
"The saw work is finished, and the last of the logs that were going to be trucked off the mountain left Wednesday, July 14. The crews are now raking and piling brush in the treated areas and will move the piles to their landings in preparation for chipping. There will still be machines working in the treated areas but will be quieter than chainsaws, so please keep out of these areas. The contractor working around the resort is pushing hard to be done by the end of July – with exception to chipping."
The next step of this program will also involve the removal of heavy undergrowth and lower branches on trees. Within the following months, crews will be clearing away immature young trees on the mountain to widen the spacing between trees. Selected older trees will remain to provide shade and grant adequate regrowth abilities to the forest. These Provincial fuel management planning and treatment activities began in 2019, focusing on Provincial Crown land located around communities and are part of prescribed fire planning and operational treatments for developing a comprehensive provincial prescribed fire program.
For more information on the Crown Land WRR contact CRIprogram@gov.bc.ca.