Update from the Greater Bragg Creek FireSmart Committee
Learning to Coexist with Wildfire
That’s the message of an excellent short article by Dr. Lori Daniels (UBC Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences professor) titled “Wildfires: Causes, Consequences and Coexistence”. Dr. Daniel states that “Wildfire has become a wicked problem — complex, challenging, and full of paradoxes”. She notes that understanding wildfires is the first step to undertaking measures to effectively adapt to living on fire-prone landscapes. Risk mitigation techniques that include FireSmart programs improve the resiliency of communities to the natural cycle of fire renewal of forests — particularly during climate change and conditions that attenuate the fire hazard.
To view Dr. Daniel’s article, go to www.alpineclubofcanada.ca and click on “2019 State of the Mountains Report” to view it — a great primer on the wildfire issues, climate change and the need for FireSmart!
Kudos Bragg Creekers on Successful Chipper Days!!!
Over 90 loads of green waste were chipped and recycled during the August Chipper Days! We received as many loads on the Saturday as we did during last year’s entire weekend event. A big thanks to the Rocky View County Fire Services and Redwood Meadows Emergency Services volunteers for stepping up and making our Community safer! Our next activity involves relocating the Chipper Day event to the Wintergreen and Elk Valley neighbourhoods in September to make it easier and more convenient for residents to FireSmart their properties.
How is FireSmart Programs Funded? What’s Next for Bragg Creek?
The Provincial Government funds FireSmart activities which are administered by the Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta. All municipalities in Alberta are eligible for participation in the FireSmart Alberta program, which totals $15 million per year. The funding process involves the submission of detailed proposals that fall within the seven FireSmart principles — typically there are more proposals than funding.
To date, the GBC FireSmart Committee and Rocky View County Fire Services have procured about $200,000 in funding for FireSmart activities in our area. These funds have been directed to a range of activities including Chipper Days, new fire hazard signs, along with seminars and workshops. This winter a vegetation management program will be undertaken on selected RVC lands in the Hamlet and a study undertaken to plan FireSmart vegetation management in the Bragg Creek Provincial Park.
RVC Fire Services will be working with Banded Peak School to introduce a highly acclaimed FireSmart teaching module to the Grade 4 Class this fall. This module was developed in Slave Lake and covers a range of subjects from forestry, fire basics and safety that all tie into the FireSmart principles.
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