Photo: Sunshine Tomma

Skwlax te Secwepemcul'ecw youth planted seedlings Monday as part of a program to replace trees destroyed in the devastating 2023 Bush Creek East wildfire.

Skwlax te Secwepemcul’ecw held a special event Monday where children put the first trees in the ground as part of a new planting program aimed at replacing trees destroyed in the 2023 Bush Creek East wildfire.

Children from the Skwlax Wellness head start program were joined by band members to plant 300 fir and yellow pine seedlings to kick off the tree planting program.

In a statement released Wednesday, Larry Read, communications coordinator for the band, said the program aims to plant 16,000 new seedlings on band land.

Interfor provided some of the funding for the seedlings, and planting operations are expected to continue for the next few weeks.

The Dancing Fawn Subdivision and the Skwlax te Secwepemcul’ecw powwow arbor were the sites chosen for the first of the upcoming series of tree planting operations.

The trees planted by the children will have blue ribbons with their names on them to allow the kids to come back and visit the tree they planted as it grows.