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| Backgrounder(s) & FactSheet(s): | Factsheet |
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| Backgrounder(s) & FactSheet(s): | Factsheet |
CRANBROOK
– The
public is advised that the Ministry of Forests and Range is planning to conduct
a number of prescribed fires in the Kootenays between April 6 and April 30,
weather conditions permitting.
The fires are planned for ecosystem restoration
purposes and will cover an estimated 1,190 hectares. Three fires will be
conducted in the Jaffray, Fort Steele and the Canal Flats area:
·
Waldo
Range Unit: Clear Lake Pasture, ten kilometres south of Jaffray to the east of
Kikkomun Road.
·
Big
Hill pasture, just north of Lakit Lake, about seven kilometres northeast of
Fort Steele Historic Park.
·
Findlay
Basin Range Unit: Stinky pasture, west of Canal Flats and north of Findlay Creek
Road.
Historically, the forest in the Rocky Mountain Trench was
renewed through frequent, low-intensity ground fires. Such fires removed the
shrubby understory and created a relatively open forest with large, healthy
trees.
The exclusion of fire from the landscape over recent decades
has increased the fuels that contribute to the risk of more intense and
damaging fires, and reduced the amount of open grasslands in the Rocky Mountain
Trench. Combined with other factors, the resulting forest ingrowth has caused
an overall deterioration in wildlife habitat, cattle forage and forest values.
The reintroduction of low-intensity ground fires to these
forests is intended to maintain and restore what ecologists describe as a “fire
maintained, ponderosa pine, blue bunch wheat grass community,” which is natural
for these sites. These fires are part of an ongoing restoration program
administered by the provincial government. For more information, visit www.for.gov.bc.ca/drm/erp/erp.htm/.
The public is invited to contact the Rocky Mountain Forest
District as noted below to discuss the use of fire as a management tool and
other aspects of the ecosystem restoration program.
-30-
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contact: |
Ecosystem Restoration Team Leader 250 420-2176 |
Prescribed Fire Co-ordinator 250 426-1793 |
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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca. |
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