Rural communities are taking action in the face of a changing climate
Welcome to our Earth Month series! Each week for four weeks, we’re introducing inspiring examples of organizations, people and communities that are rising to the challenge when it comes to helping the Columbia Basin become more resilient to climate change and to mitigate and adapt to its impacts. Learn here how many groups have stepped up.
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Communities throughout the Columbia Basin do amazing work advancing the well-being of their spaces and people in the face of climate change. Over the past few years, there’s been an ever-increasing need to focus on wildfire preparedness in the region.
Some notable projects have recently taken place, supported by Columbia Basin Trust. Here are a few great examples of what communities have achieved.
Shuswap Band leads wildfire prep
Near Invermere, the Shuswap Band has an excellent record of implementing wildfire fuel management projects varying in size and scope. Having a solid team equipped with the proper training and tools has created the ideal dynamic for getting the job done.
The Band successfully treated 52 hectares of land during a project that concluded at the end of 2022, with activities like falling, piling, thinning, pruning, chipping and hauling. During the planning and treatment, the project supported 10 jobs.
By protecting critical infrastructure like creeks for drinking water, minimizing forest fuels like the common juniper and using FireSmart theories, the Band has greatly reduced the wildfire threat for not only its own community, but adjacent ones as well.
With continued training and skills development such as offering chainsaw safety courses and training on cultural environmental monitoring, the Band looks to remain at the forefront of wildfire preparedness.
Education, planning and partnership in the East Kootenay
What happens when wildfire threatens your ranch?
The Kootenay Livestock Association, which represents producers of livestock in the East Kootenay for the purposes of environmental stewardship, conservation and community education, recognizes that its members must be prepared.
The association bolstered its members’ understanding of rural wildfire mitigation through workshops and field demonstrations and by preparing wildfire plans for agricultural producers. These joint training and planning exercises built collaboration and communication amongst members, important assets in wildfire preparedness . The group also hired a ranch liaison who will provide local knowledge and support during the coming fire season and beyond.
With wildfire mitigation as an ongoing priority, the group is well on its way to being prepared.
Wasa: an excellent FireSmart example
The corner of Wasa Lake Park Drive and School Road in the community of Wasa is a special place—home to a demonstration site of what a FireSmart treatment can look like for a community within a wildland urban interface.
Through efforts in May 2023 put forth by volunteers, partners and two paid workers, the site has transformed from a potentially high-risk wildfire area to one treated with FireSmart techniques.
This small site required only a couple of hours of thinning, pruning and tidying up the ground, and now clearly demonstrates what a FireSmart property looks like. The location also has new highly visible signage to remind residents about being Firesmart and other pertinent information about local fire danger ratings and campfire bans.
In addition, a new event tent is at the disposal of the Wasa community, as it looks to the future and more opportunities to show off this FireSmart corner.
Selkirk College acts as steward of a forest
A 285-hectare tract of land along the east shore of the Kootenay River has been a living, growing classroom for Selkirk College since 1999. Neighbouring the community of Glade is the Skattebo Education Forest. Classified as a West Kootenay dry warm interior cedar-hemlock forest, the area is a perfect place for students in Forest Technology, Recreation, Rish and Wildlife, Applied Environmental Science and Planning Technology and other programs can get hands-on experience.
One such project—this time focused on wildfire—finished in December 2022. The main activity was to create a wildfire fuel management prescription and treat approximately seven hectares, reducing forest fuel accumulations and reducing risks to adjacent private and public land.
With close to 2,500 hours put into the project—including 1,040 hours put in by 128 students—the project also supported 13 jobs during the prescription development and treatment. Today, the location continues to be used by students studying topics relating to wildfire mitigation.
Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi ‘it forms a wildfire brigade
Located near Grasmere, the community of Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi ‘it has taken the idea of protecting itself to a whole new level by developing a wildfire brigade.
The brigade compromises 25 committed volunteers. Through successful training, including obtaining required certifications, the crew—and entire community—enhanced its knowledge of wildland firefighting response and prevention. The community also hired a highly trained and knowledgeable wildfire and emergency services coordinator.
The brigade now provides a physical line of defence against the threat of wildfire to both Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi ‘it and Grasmere. With an increase in overall awareness of wildfire activity, the brigade has allowed the community to feel protected during wildfire season.
Hills: tiny town, grand vision
Surrounded by forests on the northern-most shore of Slocan Lake, the community of Hills is very aware of what a major wildfire could mean for it and its residents.
This reality is what spurred the Hills Emergency Services Society to develop a wildfire risk reduction project in 2021.
The main activities included creating a fuel management prescription and implementing fuel treatment on Hills’ community parkland, as well as raising local awareness around FireSmart best practices. The project created nearly a dozen short-term wildfire mitigation jobs, with training provided to the new workers and firefighting volunteers, plus volunteers from New Denver, Burton and Edgewood.
The society completed the project in October 2022, in time for the 2023 record-breaking fire season across the entire country.
Note: The projects mentioned above were supported by a partnership between Columbia Basin Trust and the provincial government (Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, through the BC Wildfire Service). Overall, $2.9 million has gone toward 28 wildfire-mitigation projects that have created about 300 jobs.
To learn more about how local actions are having Basin impact, visit Climate Change Stories | Basin Stories.
