Fishing The Castle This Fall??

[Harps]

Controlled burns in West Castle

 

Primary Objectives

1. To reduce the potential threat of large scale wildfire to the Castle Mountain Resort, nearby housing and related infrastructure in the West Castle Valley.

2. To create a firebreak control line fire crews could use to aid in the containment of future wildfires in the area.

All to protect residences at a ski hill that shouldn't have been built.

 

Timing update

 

SRD begins burning the West Castle this weekend.

 

 

 

*****

Oh... and the latest finding shows that Pine Beetles REDUCE the fire risk

[dryfly]

Paul

 

I agree with you about the ski hill, but "All to protect residences at a ski hill that shouldn't have been built." is incorrect and is a narrow view of the proposed action. I can't say I am thrilled with the idea either but some facts are in order.

 

This is a forest management burn. The ski hill and the burn will become a barrier in the "middle" (not quite) of a forested valley ~20 km long. The purpose of the burn is to form a fire guard that would block a fire from the south or from the north.

The person managing the burn is Rick Arthur and he will be the guest speaker at the October 19 Oldman TU meeting.

Rick Arthur

Wildland Fire Prevention Officer

Wildfire Management Sustainable Resource Development

 

I recently asked Rick a series of questions. Here they are with my version of his replies in blue.

 

1) Are there other sections of the west side of Barnaby Ridge that have been considered as part of the “fuel reduction” plan? If so, what were the specific reasons for selection this specific section? (We understand that one reason was that the area cannot be logged because of slope.) This is the best area because of its mid-valley location, slope and potential for fire

 

2) How much logging has been done on the west slope of Barnaby Ridge? (It is not clear when the Google Earth satellite images were taken.) If some of Barnaby Ridge has already been logged, can any of these areas be used for the prescribed burn instead of the proposed area? No logging in any parts of Barnaby Ridge. Spray Lakes Lumber owns the timber rights and has no plans for Barnaby Ridge until 2030 or 2040 in West Castle and those are indefinite. Nothing sooner. The valley was gutted in 1936 and there was salvage logging done at that time. There is a small area where there was some fuel mod done at the bottom (it can be seen on the Google Earth images.) This was done to enhance the grizzly bear corridor in conjunction with griz bios. That entire slope is a griz travel corridor. Wood is not large and not that marketable. No additional harvesting planned although they MAY do a reburn in a few years.

 

Side note. There is a good example of ridiculous eco fanaticism in this picture captured from GE. See the wriggly clearings at the base of the proposed burn area. Some eco weenies accused SRD of making these clearings as a reason to start a new subdivision development. As noted above, "This was done to enhance the grizzly bear corridor in conjunction with griz bios. That entire slope is a griz travel corridor."

 

4) SRD has stated, “The prescribed fire is part of a fuel reduction plan for the area whereby a combination of harvest methods and prescribed fore is being used to establish firebreaks on both Barnaby and Haig Ridges.”

 

a. Can you tell us if there are prescribed burns for Haig Ridge in the future? No

 

b. Can you tell us which areas specifically on these two ridges are scheduled for harvesting as part of the fuel reduction plan? No plans at this time. CMR is planning to clean up the existing cleared areas on ski.

 

5) What will be done with the burned area after the burn? Will it be reforested? No reforestation. May consider future burns. But will let it grow back naturally.

 

9) Are you aware of any development proposals for the prescribed burn area by Castle Mountain Ski Resort? (Or along other parts of Burnaby Ridge?) One of our members remains suspicious that the prescribed burn is part of a long-term development plan for the valley by Castle Mountain Ski Resort. We need assurance that the prescribed burn is part of a forest management plan vs. a “foot in the door” to further development in the valley. No development plans. According to Rick, CMR has been eying some land owned by the MD somewhere else in the West castle area and the MD will not allow more development. Restrictive notations and no dev proposal.

 

10) Clearly, the prescribed burn will not be happening for several weeks because of the unending precipitation this “spring.” One potential concern is that the burn will be late in the summer when risk of unintended fires becomes higher—collateral damage. If the prescribed burn cannot be done in 2010 will it be delayed to 2011 or perhaps done in late fall or winter? The plan is to do the controlled burn after a heavy frost and it will be late Sept or October. If it gets very dry they will not burn. Might get two days every few years.

I will try to remember to post a notice of the TU meeting sometime in the next couple of weeks. Anyone interested will be welcome to attend to listen to Rick's presentation and ask politely questions.