“The ecosystems in the valley here are used to having fires go through them every two to 20 years. Fire is a normal part of the ecosystem,” Forester Richard Swanson said in 2005. “We have stopped fires and we continue to have fuel build-up.”
Pine trees constantly add to the fuel load on the forest floor. Needles fall to the ground, as do branches and twigs. Mother Nature used to take care of the fuel through fire, which would clean out the debris and small trees, leaving open area stands of mature trees.
Aggressively fighting fires for the past 60 years has meant an accumulation of fire fuel. Now if a fire starts in the forest, it no longer hugs the ground and cleans out debris; it devastates and kills everything in its path.
If nothing is done, fuel loads will continue to increase, setting the stage for wildfires like the 2003 Okanagan Mountain Park fire and the 2009 Glenrosa and Terrace Mountain fires.
The District of Peachland embarked on a fuel mitigation program five years ago. Since then, hundreds of diseased, dead and dying trees have been removed from parks and public property. Treegroup will do the same on Ponderosa lands, eventually reducing the wildfire risk throughout one third of the town’s immediate interface areas.
Treegroup is committed to reducing the wildfire risk in and around the Ponderosa lands while protecting critical wildlife habitat. A plan is being developed to revegetate areas at risk of erosion because of beetle kill. A mix of deciduous and coniferous trees, adapted to the climate, will be planted to stabilize slopes and valleys.
Plans approved by the District of Peachland call for 60 per cent of the 400-acre development site to remain natural open space, parks and golf use.
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