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KELOWNA – To mitigate the impacts of the provincial mountain pine beetle infestation, a forest fuel and hazard tree management program is being implemented in Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park.
Hazard trees are being removed and fuel reduction areas are being established near park boundaries by Ministry of Environment contractors. This will serve to reduce the risk of wildfire spread to private property adjacent to the park. Work will begin in the first week in January.
Dead and dying pine trees and other forest fuels will be removed to reduce forest density near the park boundary. Reducing forest density facilitates wildfire control and reduces the risk of fast-moving crown fires.
As part of the infestation management program, hazard
trees threatening structures on private property adjacent to the park will also
be removed. As part of the project, burning of brush piles may occur in the park
during the first two weeks of January. The burning of piles is
weather-dependent and will only take place if conditions provide for the least
impact on air quality in the surrounding community.
The fuel reduction project in
Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park is facilitated by a team of specialists,
including professional foresters and biologists, adjacent landowners,
commercial operators and park managers. The project team includes the community
– through the Friends of South Slopes organization – the Regional District of
Central Okanagan, the City of Kelowna and the Ministry of Environment.
As
recommended by the Filmon Report, the government of British Columbia is
carrying out fuel management activities to reduce the risk of wildfires. Since 2006, the B.C. government has
invested more than $60,000 in the Myra Bellevue Provincial Park Wildfire Hazard
Reduction Program.
BC Parks is
also conducting fuel management activities in other parks in the Okanagan
Region including Fintry Provincial Park, Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park,
Ellison Provincial Park and White Lake Grasslands Protected Area.
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contact: |
BC Parks Area Supervisor Okanagan Region 250 490-8279 |
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