Parks Canada is seeking funding from Ottawa to thin out dense forest around the Fenlands Loop and Forty Mile Creek near the Banff townsite to be better prepared in the event a wildfire rips through the area.
The Town of Banff has been in talks with Parks Canada about thinning the old-growth forest there, noting there have been several small wildfires in the area over the years, mostly from illegal campsites in the woods.
“It has been one of our concerns for many, many years. We want to try reduce the threat of fire and intensity of a fire in the Fenlands area, which is near the rec centre and is an entrance to town,” said Silvio Adamo, the Town of Banff’s fire chief and protective services manager.
“We want to protect that area from wildfire and it’s good to have it thinned so the intensity of fires wouldn’t be as great. It’s been on the books for a number of years, but there’s always been hesitation to go into that area because of sensitive wildlife habitat.”
The Fenland forms the eastern end of the Vermilion Lakes wetlands complex. A 1.5 kilometre loop trail along the banks of Forty Mile Creek allows visitors to observe a variety of woodland and wetland habitats.
The area is also home to a great abundance and diversity of birds and is an important calving area for elk in late May and early June.
Parks Canada officials say the work will be subject to an environmental assessment.
Jane Park, fire and vegetation specialist for Banff National Park, said they’ve applied for funding for a wildfire risk reduction project in the Fenlands area.
“We’ve done a bit of planning already, which mainly focuses on the area between the main day use area, the road and the trail that parallels the road – that’s the area that’s the most dense,” she said.
“On the backside closer to Vermilion Lakes, a lot of flood activity that’s happened over time has really helped in there. It’s really silty underneath the trees and we’re not as concerned on that back end.”
If the funding comes through and there’s an approved environmental assessment, Park said the plan is for fire crews to work in the area next winter, using chainsaws and other hand equipment to thin the forest.
She said she expects to hear by August whether the funding application has been successful.
“I have heard preliminarily that we have a really strong case because of the close proximity to town and we’re a town in a national park,” said Park.
Meanwhile, Parks Canada has several prescribed fires on the books in Banff National Park this year, including one at Moose Meadows, 26 km west of the Banff townsite along the Bow Valley Parkway.
That burn, which is approximately 100 hectares in size in three different units on either side of the train tracks, is aimed at protecting the town from a potentially catastrophic forest fire, as well as to improve wildlife habitat there for bears, wolves and ungulates.
Fire crews logged 85 ha of the Moose Meadows site to remove forest cover in the winter of 2010-11; however, dead and fallen trees remain in the logged blocks that will be burned.
Park said the prescribed fire is part of ongoing work on a valley wide fuel break in the middle Bow Valley.
“What we’re trying to do is reduce the amount of fuel in the long run,” said Park.
“We’re breaking up that swath of continuous fuel to the west of town, so if we get a wildfire, we’re able to reduce that potential that it could just rip right through the valley.”
The goal is to have that burn done this spring, but if not, there is a chance it could be done in fall.
“It’s been a very dry start to the fire season, and we went pretty much from a metre of snow in that area to dry in about 10 days,” said Park.
“We were out of prescription as of last week, but this rain might help. Now we’re fighting greenup because we have to burn before the grass comes up.”
Councillor Stavros Karlos thanked Parks Canada for all the work they do with prescribed fires.
“Certainly wildfire risk is one of the risks to our community,” he said. “I’ve grown up in this town and all of us here have seen the evolution of prescribed burns and know how critically important it is.”
People with medical conditions such as asthma or chronic bronchitis, or severe smoke sensitivities, can receive notification in advance of Parks Canada’s prescribed fire operations.
To be added to the Banff National Park smoke sensitive list, call 403-760-0934 or email [email protected].
