RDKB Adopts ‘Proactive, Science-Based Approach to Wildfire Risk Reduction’

The Regional District of Kootenay Boundary this month announced “a significant step forward in our wildfire risk reduction strategy.”

Noting that “not all fire is bad,” the RDKB says it is collaborating with partners to take “a proactive, science-based approach to wildfire risk reduction across the region.”

The current project from RDKB involves developing and implementing fuel management prescriptions for wildfire risk reduction treatments to occur on more than 150 hectares of land throughout Boundary Country, including nearly 100 hectares around the Greenwood area.

Treatments will include pruning tree branches to increase the distance from the ground and live crown, reducing or removing forest floor fines and small fuels, burning piles as a tool for debris management, and prescribed fires to control the landscape.

“There’s a culture shift which views fire as part of the natural cycle of a healthy forest,” believes Paul Keys, RDKB’s Manager of Facilities and Recreation. “When used carefully, it restores ecological balance and helps prevent larger, more destructive fires in the future.”

The RKDB says that these treatments will result in “increased public safety,” readily defensible spaces that are safer for fire fighters, and the “enhancement of the many values of the treatment area including visual quality, water quality, forest health, wildlife diversity and habitat, air quality, terrain stability, and recreational values.”

Preparedness “starts before the flames,” according to Tom Service, Christina Lake’s Fire Chief. “By reducing fuel and strengthening our community’s fire resilience, we’re setting firefighters up for success—it’s a proactive investment in safety for everyone who lives, works, and visits here.”

In-person engagement events are slated to take place in February.