Granisle is carrying out a fire safety plan that will see most of the coniferous trees around it cut down and replaced with deciduous species, building a buffer around the village.
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Those leafy species are more fire-resistant than coniferous trees and are noted for being natural fireguards.
“Anything deciduous already growing on site will be left there. Some habitat features will be left there, like smaller sizes of conifer trees and nest trees for birds,” [Peter Tweedie of Tyhee Forest Consultants] said.
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Several years ago, concerns over Granisle’s vulnerability to wildfires prompted the community forest to speak with the village about fire mitigation, said Babine Lake Community Forest co-director Sonia Clarke.
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Two years later the proposal has become a reality and the Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC) approved a grant of $401,450 for the fuel mitigation work, which includes “the reduction of forest fuels to a level lower than what is required to abate the fire hazard as required under the Wildfire Act and the Wildfire Regulation and convert some of the stands near the community of Granisle to a species (birch) to create a more fire resilient stand,” said FESBC spokeswoman Aleece Laird.
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