logo
  • Explore
    • Local Events
    • Local News
    • Local Organisations
  • News
    • Community
    • Local Government
    • Sports
    • Alberta Politics
    • Opinion
    • Deke
  • Peaks & Valleys
    • Wildlife
    • Hiking and Climbing
    • Biking
    • Fishing
    • Snow Sports
  • Culture
    • Jasper Arts & Culture
    • Local Dining
    • Local Literature
  • Jasper History
  • Support
    • Explore
      • Local Events
      • Local News
      • Local Organisations
    • News
      • Community
      • Local Government
      • Sports
      • Alberta Politics
      • Opinion
      • Deke
    • Peaks & Valleys
      • Wildlife
      • Hiking and Climbing
      • Biking
      • Fishing
      • Snow Sports
    • Culture
      • Jasper Arts & Culture
      • Local Dining
      • Local Literature
    • Jasper History
    • Support
Error with device mobile widget id reference_widget-4
Error with device mobile widget id reference_widget-4
Be wildfire prepared, not wildfire scared
Vine Creek Prescribed Fire, JNP, spring 2016 // B Covey
Editorial, Opinion
By Bob Covey
Sunday, June 17, 2018
Be wildfire prepared, not wildfire scared

Photo:Vine Creek prescribed burn spring 2016//B Covey

A few miles east of town, up the Jacques Creek drainage, there is a grey rock band on the northwest side of Cinquefoil Mountain. It’s in the subalpine and it’s fairly nondescript. Unless you’re making your way to the Alpine Club of Canada hut on Mount Colin, you’d hardly notice it.

But local fire fighters know the spot well. Parks Canada Initial Attack Fire Crew members spent more than a week there during the winter of 2008, holed up in a wall tent, monitoring the prescribed burns that eventually helped restore more than 330 hectares of open, montane grasslands, contributed to future wildfire control and assisted in efforts to slow the eastward spread of mountain pine beetle. Later that same winter, they were taking shelter from nasty December winds during another prescribed burn along the Celestine Lake Road, near the aptly named Windy Point.

That was 10 years ago. I remember in 2006 being introduced to the concept of Firesmart by local fire and vegetation specialists. At the time, work was focused around Lake Edith and the Sawridge Hotel.

If you hike up the Pyramid Bench towards Cabin Lake, you can see the Jasper Community Fireguard, an area cleared of vegetation to provide a fuel break and a line of defence from which crews can carry out actions to control a wildfire. Parks Canada’s fire crew has maintained this barrier through manual forest thinning since 2004. And while it’s true that scheduled mechanized forest thinning did not get completed last fall and that there may be a case to be made that Parks Canada should have pulled the trigger while the short weather window allowed it, mechanical thinning has been creating conditions for safer, more efficient prescribed fires on the Pyramid Bench for most of the past decade.

It seems to me—a layperson, at best—that, contrary to the shouts on local social media and even in regional mainstream coverage, progressive, science-based forest management as it relates to wildfires has been actively taking place in Jasper National Park for a very long time. While it’s easy to look at the “matchstick” forest which surrounds us and imagine the worst, it’s important to remember Jasper has always been a community surrounded by flammable timber and that local experts have every summer had little else on their mind than ensuring we have a proper response plan in place, one which scales up or down depending on forest conditions.

It’s also useful to consider that in British Columbia, where fires have caused evacuations of entire communities, those communities still stand and thrive today. Vanderhoof had a 10,000 hectare fire in 2004; 14 years later it is not a ghost town. Last year was a record fire year in B.C. While it was certainly traumatic for those communities affected, the big takeaway for emergency response officials is that no lives were lost due to the wildfires.

These are significant counterpoints to the sky-is-falling mentality we’re easily duped by thanks to social media and a few “experts” being quoted in the news. For the record, forest professionals are not wildfire specialists. Their opinions should only carry so much water.

So douse those anxieties about having to inevitably return to a burned out shell of a town. Cool those heels in the fact that Jasper has an entire suite of response mechanisms to manage the threat of wildfires. That’s not to say don’t be prepared if the worst does happen—quite the opposite, in fact. It is absolutely critical that each of us are Wildfire Ready. If you’re reading this online, the information is right here.

Because being wildfire prepared is much different than being wildfire scared. Just ask any of your fire fighter friends.

Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

Vine Creek prescribed fire, spring 2016 // B Covey
Articles You May LIke ›
Fire ban issued for Jasper
Environment
Fire ban issued for Jasper
Effective May 11, Jasper National Park and the Municipality of Jasper are issuing a park and town-wide fire ban
Bob Covey 
Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Jasper National Park is issuing a fire ban. The ban is effective Thursday, May 11. Parks Canada announced the fire ban in partnership with the Municip...
this is a test
Prescribed fire jumps highway, causes four hour traffic delay
Environment
Prescribed fire jumps highway, causes four hour traffic delay
Bob Covey 
Wednesday, May 4, 2022
A prescribed fire that jumped Highway 16, burned 100 hectares at the Jasper airstrip and created enough smoke to shut down traffic for four hours was ...
this is a test
Snaring Road closed for prescribed fire
Environment
Snaring Road closed for prescribed fire
Bob Covey 
Monday, May 2, 2022
Parks Canada is undertaking prescribed fire activities. If prescribed weather and burning conditions are met, Jasper National Park’s fire management s...
this is a test
Most Read ›
Fully funded bridge proposal rebuffed by Jasper’s superintendent
News
Fully funded bridge proposal rebuffed by Jasper’s superintendent
Bob Covey 
Friday, May 5, 2023
Jasper National Park Superintendent Alan Fehr has declined a private offer to rebuild a washed-out bridge at Simon Creek, a structure which would allo...
this is a test
NDP’s Kreiner withdraws from all-candidates forum
Local Government
NDP’s Kreiner withdraws from all-candidates forum
Bob Covey 
Monday, May 15, 2023
West Yellowhead’s NDP candidate Fred Kreiner has elected not to participate in Jasper’s scheduled all-candidates forum. “I’ve decided and the NDP part...
this is a test
Helicopter sustains “incredible” damage after accident on Columbia Icefields
Community
Helicopter sustains “incredible” damage after accident on Columbia Icefields
Bob Covey 
Monday, April 24, 2023
A helicopter transporting Natural Resources Canada glacier surveyors had a hard landing on an icefield in Banff National Park April 14. The accident l...
this is a test
Letter: Keep up the public pressure to make Jasper’s backcountry safe
Opinion
Letter: Keep up the public pressure to make Jasper’s backcountry safe
Tuesday, May 9, 2023
Re: Fully funded bridge proposal rebuffed by Jasper's superintendent (May 5, 2023) Dear Editor, This is an excellent article in The Jasper Local. I am...
this is a test
Latest ›
A Glimpse of the trans experience: Art exhibit celebrates gender euphoria
Arts & Culture
A Glimpse of the trans experience: Art exhibit celebrates gender euphoria
Jack Mastrianni 
Thursday, September 7, 2023
A combined still-life/portrait series celebrating queer identity is catching the eyes of Coco’s Café clientele. Local art enthusiasts and coffee addic...
this is a test
Corral Creek wildfire under control, not expected to grow
News
Corral Creek wildfire under control, not expected to grow
Bob Covey 
Wednesday, September 6, 2023
A wildfire which ignited in the east portion of Jasper National Park after a lightning storm is under control. On Friday, September 1, Parks Canada fi...
this is a test
HEADLINERS: Jasper Folk Music Festival artist profiles
Arts & Culture
HEADLINERS: Jasper Folk Music Festival artist profiles
Jack Mastrianni 
Tuesday, September 5, 2023
The 2023 Jasper Folk Music Festival kicks off September 8. The Jasper Local puts the spotlight on four bands which have the two-day festival's top bil...
this is a test
Fruit tree bears trapped, relocated
Community
Fruit tree bears trapped, relocated
Black bears attracted to ornamental trees are an increasing concern
Bob Covey 
Friday, September 1, 2023
A mother black bear and her cub have been captured and removed from the Jasper townsite by wildlife officials. It’s a second-to-last-ditch effort to g...
this is a test

NEXT ARTICLE

Tone down the boom-boom

Letters, Opinion

Most Read ›
Fully funded bridge proposal rebuffed by Jasper’s superintendent
News
Fully funded bridge proposal rebuffed by Jasper’s superintendent
Bob Covey 
Friday, May 5, 2023
Jasper National Park Superintendent Alan Fehr has declined a private offer to rebuild a washed-out bridge at Simon Creek, a structure which would allo...
this is a test
NDP’s Kreiner withdraws from all-candidates forum
Local Government
NDP’s Kreiner withdraws from all-candidates forum
Bob Covey 
Monday, May 15, 2023
West Yellowhead’s NDP candidate Fred Kreiner has elected not to participate in Jasper’s scheduled all-candidates forum. “I’ve decided and the NDP part...
this is a test
Helicopter sustains “incredible” damage after accident on Columbia Icefields
Community
Helicopter sustains “incredible” damage after accident on Columbia Icefields
Bob Covey 
Monday, April 24, 2023
A helicopter transporting Natural Resources Canada glacier surveyors had a hard landing on an icefield in Banff National Park April 14. The accident l...
this is a test
Letter: Keep up the public pressure to make Jasper’s backcountry safe
Opinion
Letter: Keep up the public pressure to make Jasper’s backcountry safe
Tuesday, May 9, 2023
Re: Fully funded bridge proposal rebuffed by Jasper's superintendent (May 5, 2023) Dear Editor, This is an excellent article in The Jasper Local. I am...
this is a test
Latest ›
A cosmic career: Jasper Rotary Club to host astronaut Marc Garneau
Community
A cosmic career: Jasper Rotary Club to host astronaut Marc Garneau
Bob Covey 
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
The Honourable Marc Garneau is coming to Jasper for the upcoming Dark Sky Festival. Despite Garneau’s career in exploration, the 74-year-old has never...
this is a test
Former Jasperite brewing beer with all of the passion, none of the gluten
Business
Former Jasperite brewing beer with all of the passion, none of the gluten
Naito Beer debuts in Alberta
Bob Covey 
Tuesday, September 26, 2023
No one could accuse Ray Naito of doing things the easy way. To get his gluten-free craft beer concept from a back-of-the-napkin idea, to where it is n...
this is a test
Injured black bear euthanized
Community
Injured black bear euthanized
Bob Covey 
Friday, September 22, 2023
Parks Canada wildlife specialists euthanized a black bear cub after it was seriously injured in what appears to be a railway incident. For the last fo...
this is a test
New Métis government formed; Kaila Mitchell elected Jasper House citizen representative
Alberta Politics
New Métis government formed; Kaila Mitchell elected Jasper House citizen representative
Bob Covey 
Thursday, September 21, 2023
A new Otipemisiwak Metis Government has been formed and Kaila Mitchell is the newly elected representative for the Jasper House Métis District. “This ...
this is a test

© Copyright The Jasper Local

This site complies with Jasper requirements
Contact us
Privacy Policy
Advertise With Us
About The Jasper Local
Accessibility Policy
Support
This site complies with Jasper requirements
  • Contact us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise With Us
  • About The Jasper Local
  • Accessibility Policy

Follow Us

Advertise with us

Measurable, targeted, local. Email example@thejasperlocal.com

ePaper
coogle_play
app_store

© Copyright The Jasper Local