Parks Canada plans to light up the forest near Carrot Creek in Banff National Park – and it’s all for a good cause.
About 60 hectares will be burned on the south side of the Trans-Canada Highway. The hope is to begin the prescribed fire sometime this week, weather permitting.
Officials say the burn aims to add to a firebreak that already exists on the north side of the highway to stop a potential wildfire advancing on Canmore and Harvie Heights, as well as to improve critical montane habitat for wildlife.
“The goal is to safely use fire to restore habitat and protect people and infrastructure,” said Banff National Park spokesman Mark Merchant in a news release.
“Prescribed burning in this area will stimulate vegetation growth, creating favourable winter habitat for ungulates and predators as well as year-round habitat for a variety of the park’s wildlife.”
Parks Canada has a national goal of actively managing to restore fire within national parks to 50 per cent of the long-term fire cycle by attempting to duplicate natural processes as closely as possible by igniting prescribed fires.
It is believed fires in Banff National Park burned an average of about 32,000-hectares a decade prior to 1880, but increasing control in the following 100 years continually reduced burn areas.
Scientists now know that prescribed fires do important work that pays dividends for decades. For example, they help maintain quality habitat for many large mammals, particularly elk, moose, sheep, deer, wolves and bears.
Planned and managed burns also help control populations of insects such as mountain pine beetle and reduces the threat of wildfire to communities and neighbouring lands.
Once the Carrot Creek fire gets underway, an area from Carrot Creek, east to the park boundary, between the Bow River and the Trans-Canada Highway, will be closed.
The Banff Legacy Trail will also be closed from the Valleyview day use area east to the park boundary.
Parks Canada also maintains a smoke notification list for people who are extremely sensitive to smoke. If you would like to be added to the list, please call 403-762-1546 or email [email protected]
“Every effort will be made to minimize public health and safety issues relating to smoke dispersal,” said Merchant.
