This past weekend, fire specialists took advantage of a short window of opportunity for burning in the pre-designated Vine Creek prescribed fire area (know as a burn unit) 20 km north of the town of Jasper. From Sept. 13 through Sept. 15, Jasper National Park鈥檚 fire team, aided by the Banff Initial Attack crew and four helicopters, burned a portion of the unit along the top and on the southwest face of the Mt. Greenock ridge that juts into the Athabasca Valley.
Operations in this complex terrain had to be strategic and precise, with careful ignition followed by extinguishment along down-wind boundaries. By burning the small but important portion of the unit that they did, future operations will be more straightforward, since all portions of the burn unit adjacent to the Athabasca Valley (where fire is less safe) are already burned. Fire specialists achieved what they set out to do with this fall operation; to restore the important role of fire and its benefits, and to burn along the downwind and Athabasca Valley perimeter of the unit, helping strengthen the fireguard along the Athabasca Valley.
You may have noticed some smoke in Jasper this past Friday and Saturday. While some of this smoke was from the Vine Creek burn, a significant amount of this smoke had drifted in from provincial and possibly territorial wildfires. Wildfires were burning in northwestern Alberta, in southern Northwest Territories and in Tweedsmuir Provincial Park in British Columbia.
Why are we burning park forests?
In our valley bottoms, historically fire would have burned as often as every five to 10 years. Early fire protection policies however, called for suppression of all park fires for nearly 70 years. The result? Our park鈥檚 forests are now less healthy, have less wildlife habitat and present an increased risk of wildfire to our community. The Vine Creek prescribed fire will specifically:
1. Encourage Whitebark pine colonization on mid to upper slopes within the unit;
2. Restore Douglas-fir savannah on lower slopes;
3. Help to create a strategic firebreak across the Athabasca Valley; and
4. Reduce available habitat for mountain pine beetle.
Since the mid-80s the park鈥檚 fire team has worked to reintroduce fire to the park and help restore the many benefits of this natural process.
What鈥檚 next?
Jasper National Park鈥檚 fire team is now looking for the right conditions to carry out further planned prescribed fires this fall:
1. Community Fireguard: As part of an on-going program, small-scale burns along the community fireguard will help protect our community from wildfire. The fires will be surrounded by sprinkler systems and extinguished at the end of each day.
2. Backcountry Meadow Restoration: Small, late-season prescribed fires will restore specific backcountry meadows in the lower sub-alpine region. Locations will depend on conditions and weather.
