Ten hectares of community and Crown forest in Kaslo are ready to champion the next wildfire season, following a nearly $100,000 risk-reduction project.
The Kaslo and District Community Forest Society (KDCFS) has wrapped up nearly two years of wildfire mitigation work on eight hectares of its land and two hectares of Crown land, which have a popular bike trail network and were deemed high-risk areas in Kaslo's wildland-urban interface.
Risk reduction efforts included fuel reduction by removing select trees and forest debris, with support and $96,900 in funding from the Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC).
According to KDCFS manager Jeff Reyden, this was a "full-phase" project that started in spring of 2023 and included surveying wildfire assessment plots, consulting with the community, and creating a fuel-management prescription document with detailed instructions and objectives.
Reyden added that "coarse woody debris, wildlife trees and some patches of regeneration" were taken into consideration for the project "to ensure biodiversity and wildlife habitat values were recognized." As well, good-quality firewood and sawing logs were salvaged instead of being left to potentially fuel wildfires.
"By implementing projects like this one, KDCFS is helping contribute to community resilience in a time of more extreme wildfire threats and creating conditions that may enable ground crews to safely action wildfires in the future," FESBC said in a statement.
Even for a village of 1,000, this wildfire risk reduction project in Kaslo earned high praise from B.C.'s Ministry of Forests.
“As wildfire seasons grow longer and more intense, projects like this are critical for reducing fuels in forests near communities,” Forests Minister Ravi Parmar said in the statement. “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.”
KDCFS added that it's received positive feedback from community members and private landowners alike, with recreation groups already considering building new trails through the risk-mitigated land.