Sicamous executing million dollar project for wildfire reduction

Photo: Contributed

A wildfire risk reduction project valued at close to a million dollars will be rolled out to help protect the Sicamous area. This includes protection for important infrastructure such as the water reservoir and essential transportation corridors.

The District of Sicamous will see improvements from removing forest fuels in the development of a mountain bike park to give citizens better and safe access.

"Our community welcomes a large number of tourists each year," says Joe McCulloch, the Operations Manager for the DOS. "The work we’re doing now will not only help protect our local community and important infrastructure from the threat of wildfire but will also create additional opportunities for people to safely access the land for their recreational pursuits."

The area with the highest need for treatment is the eastern perimeter which has dense growth of Douglas Fir, Larch, Cedar and Hemlock trees, which are a high risk for wildfire.

This project will also use forest fibre for heat and eventually power, by chipping the debris and using that biomass. The DOS is currently working on a bioenergy system to efficiently use the biomass from the project.