Category 2, Category 3 and Resource Management Open Fire Prohibitions

Most open burning activities have been prohibited throughout British Columbia since noon (Pacific time) on Thursday, April 16, 2020. These prohibitions apply to all public and private land within British Columbia, unless specified otherwise (e.g., in a local government bylaw) and will remain in effect until the public is otherwise notified.

The following activities are currently prohibited in B.C.:

  • Category 2 open fires;
  • Category 3 open fires;
  • Resource Management open fires;
  • the use of fireworks;
  • the use of sky lanterns; and
  • the use of burn barrels or burn cages of any size or description (except when used for a campfire no larger than 0.5 metres wide by 0.5 metres high).

For further information about the current prohibitions, please review the attached Information Bulletin. For the most up-to-date prohibition information, as well as a poster explaining the different categories of open burning, please visit the BC Wildfire Service “Fire Bans and Restrictions” page: http://ow.ly/HYYw30qyGlc
and https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/public-safety-and-emergency-services/wildfire-status/fire-bans-and-restrictions/ofr_poster_-_email_distribution_72dpi_no_bleeds.pdf

WINTER IN THE FOREST FESTIVAL FEB 17, 2020

From KDCFS Chair Steve Anderson:

Food, music, sports, rides, competitions, sculptures, skiing, friends, conversations, a bonfire and more – all in one place at the same time. Wow, heaps of fun! And it’s all free. What a wonderful family day. Once again the Kaslo and District Community Forest generously sponsored Winter in the Forest Festival and the Kaslo Housing Society did another stellar job of organizing. The weather was onside and thanks goes out to the small army of volunteers who spent the day making it happen. If you weren’t there you missed a great local event but don’t worry, you can go next year. Well done Kaslo.

Bark Beetles in your neighborhood

Douglas-fir beetle (Dendroctonus pseudotsugae), is a close relative of the spruce beetle and mountain pine beetle. The small (4.5-7mm) bark beetle is a destructive insect associated with our mature Douglas-fir forests and can, during occasional catastrophic outbreaks also infest Western Larch trees. BC Aerial overview surveys recorded 47,628 hectares of damage in 2015.

Beetles emerge from the insulating bark as soon as temperatures warm up in the spring. They can detect trees in distress, such as during hot summers or trees weakened by other agents such as root rot and need to attack in large numbers to overcome the tree’s defenses or they will get trapped in sap and killed by the tree. Communication between beetles occurs through the release of hormones called ‘pheromones’. Pheromones signal other beetles where a suitable host is invaded and also when it is fully occupied to direct them towards other opportunities. This knowledge can be harnessed for the use of synthetic lures and traps. The beetles bore through the bark into the moist phloem where they establish their egg galleries. Their entrance holes can be detected by little piles of frass (sawdust) on the bark. This occurs between May to early June In our area. The tree’s nutrient supply network is interrupted when the galleries are established.  When this affects the entire circumference of the tree it will slowly  die. The eggs need a moist inner bark to develop into larvae and finally pupae during fall and winter,  In the spring beetles are ready to fly again. Sometimes two flights occur during summer.
Beetles are attracted to fresh blowdown and freshly logged slash or green firewood cuttings.The insect may travel and spread to other places while hidden in firewood such as to the fir trees on someone’s private property or along highways during transport.

We have detected a hot-spot of Douglas-fir bark beetle on the Wardner trail above Kaslo. The presence of this bark beetle is a concern but not entirely unexpected, since the southerly exposed, dry hillside has centers of root rot stressed Douglas-firs in advanced decline, which send out distress signals that can be detected by the beetle. The forest composition in this area consists of an almost exclusive Douglas-fir type. Keeping the population below catastrophic levels will be a priority to minimize forest mortality and thus heightened wildfire risk in close proximity to the Kaslo interface.  We will address the infestation  during the planned CP43 wildfire fuel break establishment on the ridge just above this area in 2020.

– – Wardner Trailhead Buzz – – National Forest Week Sept 28

September 22 to 28 was National Forest Week. 18 die-hards arrived at our Wardner Trailhead station for a walk in the forest and braved the first snow flakes of the fall. We were well prepared thanks to Val Koenig, our hometown veteran with all outdoor event coordination. A warming fire was crackling in the home made barrel stove while Val doled out a choice of two delicious soups created by Sunnyside Side Naturals. Board director Stephen Neville was in charge of hot chocolate and cookies. Johannes Smith made sure we weren’t running out of wood and set up a plant hunt for our young visitors. During our steep hikes to the viewpoint we investigated forest health issues and discussed management options on this multi-use hillside.

Wardner / Buchanan Pest and Fuel Management: Community Consultation – Presentation Uploaded

We were happy to see 36 community members arrive at the Senior’s Hall to discuss Wardner Face management options and to find out what future changes our local weather holds in store for us, data derived from our Kaslo weather station data !  This was one of several discussions we organized with the community, including the National Forest Week tour:  go see the this post.

In the meantime, you can view our presentation here:
(be patient, it’s a larger file)

WARDNER FACE Management Presentation Sept 10

Presenter at our Meeting:

MEL REASONER

CLIMATE CHANGE CONSULTANT – NELSON, BRITISH COLUMBIA

During Mel’s academic career, his research focused on past climate change and vegetation history in western North America and he taught courses in weather and climate, climate change, paleoclimatology and geology. He directed an international initiative (sponsored by the Swiss Academy of Science) that focuses on global change issues in mountain regions worldwide and became involved in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment as a lead author of a chapter that examines atmospheric conditions and trends in mountain systems. Mel served on the steering committee for the City of Nelson’s recently completed Community Energy and Emissions Action Plan and was a member of the technical support team for the Columbia Basin Trust’s ‘Communities Adapting to Climate Change Initiative’. In 2017 Mel received an Award of Environmental Education Excellence from the Columbia Basin Environmental Education Network.

For your interest, here are several presentations from wildfire ecologist Bob Gray:

The True Cost of Wildfires and Why Building Wildfire Resillience Is Our Best Option

and

Harvesting on Cooper Face CP41 complete

CP 41 is comprised of 5 small cutblocks on Cooper Face. We built several short spurs at the end of July 2019 to access the blocks and commenced harvest in the two highest blocks on August 6. All blocks were logged conventionally by Sunshine Logging Ltd. Harvesting in all of these blocks is now complete. Trail deactivation and cleanup is scheduled for spring/early summer 2020. Harvest debris will be burned in the spring before 2 of the blocks are planted. Trees are on order for the others for 2021.

August 18

Sept. 14  1500m elevation

Instrument Wood

Logs were sold to Kalesnikoff Lumber, Downie Timber (in Revelstoke), Mercer (Celgar Pulp), MusikSpruceCanada (https://www.musicsprucecanada.com/), and were offered to all local mills.

Forest Stewardship Plan – Open House Consultation July 25, 2019

KDCFS – 2019-2024 draft Forest Stewardship Plan

The Kaslo and District Community Forest Society (KDCFS) is currently drafting a Forest Stewardship Plan (FSP) with 1 FDU that covers the K3C operating area.

The FSP is a landscape-level plan that identifies how the holder of the plan will be consistent with government objectives for managing and protecting the forest, wildlife, water and range values through the results, strategies and measures proposed in the plan. Once approved, the FSP will guide future forest development, including road construction, timber harvesting and silviculture activities.

It is important to note that the FSP is a management document and does not show actual locations of specific proposed cut blocks or roads. A referral including an operating plan will be sent once development begins in an area.

The draft KDCFS FSP will be available for public review and written comments from July 2, 2019 to September 2, 2019.  An electronic copy of the draft FSP will be posted here for the duration of the public comment period.

The OPEN HOUSE viewing was held on July 25, 2019 from 3:30pm to 6:30pm at the Senior’s Hall in Kaslo

We presented an update to the Landscape Level Wildfire Plan and our CP43 Harvest Fuel Mitigation/Forest Health Project in the Wardner to Shutty Bench area for 2019/2020. You can view the presentation here:

July 2019 Open House Presentation1

You may view the presenter notes by hovering your mouse over the pop-up note symbol in the presentation.

In order for FSP comments to be considered prior to submission for approval they must be received on or before September 2, 2019.  Written comments may be mailed, delivered in person or sent by email.

Our Harvest Consultation will be ongoing with the Community and Stakeholders throughout the project.

Go here for general reading:  https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/forestry/managing-our-forest-resources/forest-stewardship-plans

You can view our Draft FSP document here:

KDCFS Draft FSP 2019

Maps:

KDCFS_K3C_FSP_2019_Cooper_Davis
KDCFS_K3C_FSP_2019_Kaslo_Bjerkness
KDCFS_K3C_FSP_2019_Keen
KDCFS_K3C_FSP_2019_Shutty_Bench

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Wildfire & Climate Change Webinar Series

If you have missed some of these webinars or want to revisit one you liked, you can download the Powerpoint slides or link to the youtube presentation here:

https://www.retooling.ca/news_events.html#events

This is an excellent resource and the next upcoming event in the Series promises a lot of good insights:

“Effectiveness of fuel treatments in mitigating wildfire severity – Lessons from large wildfire events in the interior Pacific Northwest – Susan Prichard, Research Scientist, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington
May 16: 9-10am PST”

Susan will share her research on the effects of fire and other disturbances on forest dynamics; climatic change on forest ecosystems; and fuel treatment options to mitigate wildfire effects, with an emphasis on inland forests. Register here https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/regist…/3414335844919454476

ReTooling for Climate Change – News & Events
The North Okanagan has witnessed recent flooding and wildfire events, and climate change hazards have created the need to integrate…

 

Bjerkness-Fletcher access upgrade – complete


The Bjerkness-Fletcher basin forms the community watershed for the Mirror Lake and Fletcher neighbourhood and are a very popular winter recreation destination.

Brenton Industries completed the remediation of the Bjerkness creek diversion during the first weeks of February. The work was made possible by the low snow accumulation this winter and coincided with the annual low flow in the creek. Raging spring freshets, typical for the extensive and steep Bjerkness-Fletcher basin, have breached the main channel at various times throughout history. One larger event occurred 5 years ago. Melt water cascaded down the lower end of the Bjerkness-Fletcher access road onto the Back Road behind Mirror Lake, damaging both roads. Floods extended as far as Fletcher Creek. The immediate solution redirected the flow back into the main channel via two large swales in Bjerkness Road, and this band-aid has remained in place until now.

The objective of the remediation was to install long term protection for the Mirror Lake community water supply and to prevent future diversions from flowing south to Fletcher Creek.

The diversion was contained in a channel of adequate size to service large freshet run-off and potential future breaches. It is separated from the northern edge of the road by a large berm which will over time establish trees and shrubs.


Straw silt trap placed during construction.

Please respect this Community Watershed area.

We would like to thank Irma Aldinger for her generous help with quarry rock to armor the channel walls !

Check out the new FireSmart Website

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The BC FireSmart Committee has launched a new website for all things FireSmart in BC. The website includes resources such as: documents like FCCRP renewal and Community Wildfire Hazard Assessment forms, a calendar of events, and information on courses and workshops around the province.

FireSmart BC Website

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