Students help forest burned by wildfire in West Kelowna rise from the ashes

Forest rises from the ashes

It's been almost two years since the McDougall Creek wildfire burned through parts of West Kelowna.

Now, the Rutland Secondary School forestry program is replanting the area with the help of some grade three and four students.

The replanting started in April 2024, and this week, students in the RSS forestry program and their instructor, Marshall Corbett, brought some of the same students back to see how the trees they planted are regrowing.

"Deer are a bit of a problem," says Corbett, pointing to a sapling that had been nipped.

"We'd love to see like 90—95 per cent tree survival and continue on for 15 years until it can be declared free growing."

The children spent the day counting trees and taking notes on the different types of vegetation that is greening up the area that was covered by ash not that long ago.

"There's nothing better than having kids learning on the land, learning in an authentic manner," says Erika van Oyen a Glenmore Elementary teacher.

"They're measuring, they're counting, they're doing averages, they're calculating mean. They're seeing the success of the planting from last year. They're learning about forest regeneration. So much better to do it outside than to do it from a Google slide presentation."

The activity provides hands-on learning experiences for students, young and older.

"I think it's pretty cool that we have an opportunity within school to learn about how our forests grow and how logging is actually important for the forest," says RSS student Jeffrey MacIsaac.

"Just seeing the growth of everything, all these healthy plants, flowers that you wouldn't usually see. It's really cool coming up here, and just seeing how the earth replenishes itself... it's a lot better than algebra," he added.

All of the students Castanet spoke with enjoyed the practical experience and van Oyen says she can tell how popular the class is — the kids who went last year couldn't wait to return and see how the trees are doing now.

"It's good to come and count the trees and see what the survival rate was, but one of our big objectives this year is just to have the kids learning on the land and having the RSS forestry students are typically 16 or 17 years old, teaching these grade four students. It's good for both of them," Corbett says.

Now the young students will build on their learning about forest succession and how fires are part of nature's cycle of renewal, replenishing the soil with nutrients.

Last year, the students planted 1,400 trees in the area and RSS forestry students have planted a total of 8,400 trees across the seven-hectare plot.