A large 800-hectare prescribed fire in the Baker Creek area of Banff National Park is on the books for this year in a bid to slow the spread of mountain pine beetle and improve grizzly bear habitat.
Parks Canada officials say the Baker Creek fire, located about 10 kilometres east of Lake Louise and north of the Bow Valley Parkway, is scheduled to proceed after the September long weekend, weather-permitting.
“We want to reduce mountain pine beetle susceptible trees in the Upper Bow Valley with the intent of slowing the spread in Banff National Park,” said Lindsay McPherson, fire communications officer for Lake Louise, Yoho and Kootenay. “Mountain pine beetle is present at low levels in the Lake Louise area and this prescribed burn will help mitigate spread of the outbreak.”
The Baker Creek prescribed burn unit is located in the Baker Creek drainage between Protection Mountain and Lipalian Mountain approximately 10 kilometres to the east of Lake Louise.
The south end of the unit is approximately two kilometres upstream of the Baker Creek junction with the Bow Valley Parkway and the Baker Creek Chalets. Although smoke columns would be highly visible, it’s still a backcountry burn.
“By opening the forest it promotes new growth of ground vegetation, giving them more food to eat and keeping them back off the roadways,” said McPherson.
For thousands of years fire has been an integral part of the park landscape, playing an important role in shaping the types of vegetation and wildlife species in the park.
In the early years of Canada’s national park system, fire was seen as something that destroyed scenic beauty and wildlife, and the first national park wardens were hired in 1909 primarily to put out fires.
In the absence of wildfires in the parks following a century of suppression, vegetation changed, leaving less diverse forests and forests that are more susceptible to insects and disease.
There’s also an increased chance of catastrophic wildlife due to a buildup of fire fuels in the forests.
These days, fire management policies acknowledge the importance of fire, and while fires that could threaten people and towns are extinguished, Parks Canada works to re-introduce fire through prescribed burns.
The Baker Creek burn is one of three fires on the books for Lake Louise, Yoho and Kootenay field unit this year. The other two are Harry’s Hill at Lake Louise and Redstreak Mountain in Kootenay National Park.
The prescribed fire adjacent to the housing subdivision at Harry Hill’s is a small 25 ha fire planned for after the September long weekend. The goal is to strengthen an existing fire break, which is essentially a thinned forest.
It also aims to increase the security of the Bow Valley Corridor against significant wildfire events. In addition, the Harry’s Hill prescribed burn will enhance wildlife habitat and help restore native meadow vegetation.
The Redstreak Mountain fire, to be lit about three kms east of Radium Hot Springs, is 235 ha in size, and aims to protect the community from a potential runaway wildfire and restore traditional bighorn sheep habitat.
All of these fires have been on the books for a number of years. All the fires in the mountain national parks were deferred last year because the funding pool was tapped out.
According to Parks Canada, a prescribed burn typically costs about $200 per hectare, but can be more or less depending on the size or nature of the burn, whereas a wildfire is more in the range of $1,000 per hectare.
“We have these three on the books for fall, but they’d only happen if weather conditions permit,” said McPherson. “We’d really be happy to get just one, even two, done. For all three to go ahead, a lot of things would need to lineup perfectly.”
Anyone who is sensitive to smoke can contact McPherson at 250-347-6153 or [email protected] to be put on Parks Canada’s smoke sensitive advisory list.
