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Blenkin Park – Wildfire Fuel Management Prescription

 

The SRD invites interested community members to attend a virtual project kickoff meeting about the Blenkin Park Wildfire Fuel Management Project.

 

Monday February 5th from 7:00pm to 8:00pm.

You can join the meeting using the zoom link below:

https://srd-ca.zoom.us/j/81953735364?pwd=4UTczGHfp0zJgIcvzo2Vqhlab9WCa6.1

Meeting ID: 819 5373 5364

Passcode: 257234

 

Dial by your location 1-778-907-2071

 

The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) Board passed a resolution (November 23, 2022) that an application to the 2023 Community Resiliency Investment grant program be submitted for FireSmart activities in SRD’s 4 electoral areas. This grant was then received on July 4, 2023. One project being funded under this program is the development of a Wildfire Fuel Management Prescription (WFMP) for 17.6 hectares in the Blenkin Park area on Quadra Island

This WFMP will be completed by a Registered Professional Forester(s) that is accredited with the Association of BC Forest Professionals. It will consider the balance between potential fire behaviour implications and conservation values. The 17.6 hectare Blenkin Park area was identified as a high priority for treatment in the 2022 Quadra Island Community Wildfire Resiliency Plan. This area overlaps the Quadra Island Community Centre’s FireSmart Critical Infrastructure Ignition Zones 2 and 3, the forested area comprises both C5 and C3 fuel types. The proposed treatment unit is bordered on its north and east edges by forested Crown Provincial land of similar forest/fuel types, to its south by private land which is forested by a regenerating young mixed wood/conifer stand, and to its west by one of the island’s main roads (West Road) and private land.

A wildfire fuel management prescription is a standard document that describes the recommended fuel management activities in an identified area that will reduce fire behaviour. It is expected that the post-treatment stand conditions will result in reduced fire behaviour such as a decrease in fire intensity and the potential for sustained ignition. Fuel management prescriptions must ensure a cost-effective and measurable reduction in expected fire behaviour with the consideration and management of other values on the landscape. A sound fuel management prescription follows three guiding principles: (1) it prescribes specific and measurable targets for fire behaviour reduction; (2) it contains site-specific considerations; and (3) it aligns with other legal, resource management and non-statutory objectives including First Nation consultation requirements.

Following the development and approval of the Wildfire Fuel Management Prescription a 90-minute recorded virtual public information session will take place in order to provide:

  • The details about the Prescription to the community; and
  • Sufficient opportunity for the community to ask questions regarding this project.

To be clear, no modification to the forest is occurring under this stage of the project. The WFMP being developed is for planning only.

Additional Resources:

  • Quadra Island Community Wildfire Resiliency Plan – Click Here
  • Fuel Management Prescription Guidance: Provided by BC Wildfire Service – Click Here

For More Information:

Please contact Shaun Koopman, SRD Protective Services Coordinator at 250-830-6702 or skoopman@srd.ca

Cortes Island Wildfire Fuel Treatment – Before and After Pictures

Before Pics
 After Pics