With the help of close to half a million dollars in grant funds coming to the Town of Canmore, two new Fire Smart thinning projects will proceed in the near future.
The Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta has issued a $455,000 grant to the Town of Canmore for Fire Smart thinning work in two neighbourhoods.
Fire Chief Todd Sikorsky was in front of council in December for approval of the new capital projects for 2015, as that is the fiscal year the funds were received.
Sikorsky said the two new projects will see fuel reduction work by a contractor occur in the Peaks of Grassi and Stoneworks Creek areas beginning in 2016. The funds and the projects are part of the municipality’s efforts to complete fuel mitigation work on provincially-owned lands within the town’s boundary in addition to work already completed on municipal land.
“The majority of lands inside the Town of Canmore, municipal or crown, are getting close to being completed,” he said. “In the next few years we will begin a maintenance cycle.”
Both neighbourhoods selected for the Fire Smart work can expect to see signage and stakeholder engagement on the project begin soon, Sikorsky added.
