The labor of the lumberjacks is evident.
This mile-long, 81-acre stretch of land on a mountainside is surrounded by dense forest and has been almost completely cleared. Only a few trees remain standing, while some thin trunks of felled trees are left abandoned. A trail cut by a logging truck Clearly visible under the thin layer of snow.
In commercial forests, tree felling is common practice – but this is Banff, Canada’s most famous national park. This was once unthinkable in this green jewel of the Canadian Rockies, where long-standing policy has been to rigorously suppress every fire and protect every tree.
But faced with the growing threat of wildfires, national park rangers have increasingly turned to loggers to create firebreaks: buffer zones that stop forest fires from spreading to other parts of the park and nearby towns.
“This will give fire managers some options if there’s an intense and rapidly moving wildfire,” said David Tavernini, a fire and vegetation specialist with Parks Canada, the federal agency that manages national parks, as he walked on the soft ground of a logged forest.
Canada is facing a new wildfire season that is fast approaching after its worst on record last year, with so-called zombie fires, which burn beneath winter snow-covered ground, breaking out again and forcing thousands to flee affected towns in western Canada.
Canada just experienced its warmest winter on record, and communities close to forests are bracing for another severe wildfire season, with future wildfires becoming increasingly likely due to climate change.
Measures long taken to prevent wildfires — such as fire guards in Alberta’s Banff Park and other projects in the town of Banff — have taken on a new urgency.
Last year, more than a dozen fires broke out in Banff and two neighboring national parks, including three that occurred near new fire lines and were mostly caused by lightning strikes. Those fires were quickly extinguished.
But across Alberta, the impact of last year’s record wildfire season was “huge,” said Kathryn Severson, director of emergency services for the Town of Banff.
The increase in fires in Canada’s sparsely populated areas is affecting not only nearby communities but also those far away, producing thick smoke that drifts into southern Canada and the United States.
“It’s pretty normal now — every day, towns are deciding whether they can have outdoor events based on the smoke conditions,” Ms Severson said.
Last year, wildfires burned 18.5 million hectares (46 million acres) of land in Canada, more than double the previous record set 20 years ago, and sent smoke as far away as Europe. The fires spread uncontrollably across the country, not only in western provinces where fires are common, but also in Quebec and the maritime provinces, where such large-scale blazes are rarely seen.
Much of Alberta is facing drought this spring. Snowpack in the Rockies is “unusually low,” John PomeroyA hydrologist near Banff, Global Water Security Institute.
“For this time of year, the weather is worse than last year,” Mr Pomeroy said. “But I would say a lot of things can change. Last year we also had record heat and a lack of rainfall.”
Extreme heat and unusual weather patterns contributed to last year’s record wildfire season. Michael FlanniganFire management expert Thompson Rivers University Located in British Columbia.
“Last year was a real outlier,” Mr. Flannigan said. “So statistically speaking, it’s unlikely that you’ll get another outlier.”
Still, as the fire season lengthens, wildfire suppression agencies across the country are beginning to hire professionals year-round that traditionally were hired only during fire season, including college students working during the summer, Flannigan said.
In British Columbia, Mr. Flannigan said some of the “overwintered zombie fires” were so large that fire crews were unable to get around them and put them out, and now they are burning.
“The fire season ended so late last year that they didn’t have time to do the cleanup as they would have liked,” he said.
In northern Alberta, the Beaver Lake Cree Nation is one of many communities that has beefed up its firefighting capabilities to deal with the growing threat of wildfires. Fire Chief and Director of Emergency Services Shane Bair said the reserve’s fire agency currently has 20 volunteers, seven more than last year.
Last year, a human-caused fire on a ranch on the reserve burned 157 acres and came within half a kilometer (540 yards) of homes. Firefighters struggled to contain the blaze, which grew due to strong winds and extremely dry weather, forcing 23 homes to evacuate, Mr. Bell said.
To reduce the risk of it happening again, Mr Bell’s team has conducted four controlled burns on the reserve this year to remove potentially flammable weeds from large open areas.
“It’s been a few years since we’ve had a fire here, so we really want to get that part fixed up,” he said. “We consider it a high-risk, high-traffic area.”
He said the community had hoped to conduct more controlled burns, but the mild winter has limited their effectiveness. The snow melted so quickly that little water was absorbed by the ground.
“Typically, we want to do the burns while there’s still snow on the ground, so our chances are slim,” Mr Bell said.
In the town of Banff, authorities have cut down trees in forested areas on the edge of communities to reduce their density and flammability. Fire Chief Russ Geyer said embers from spreading fires can travel two kilometers, or 1.2 miles, in the air, sparking fires around bodies of water.
Firefighters must protect residents and visitors to the town of Banff, which has a population of 9,000 and can swell to 40,000 on summer weekends.
With majestic mountains, turquoise lakes, glaciers and abundant wildlife, Banff National Park is by far Canada’s most popular national park, attracting more than 4 million visitors from around the world each year.
Banff fire officials are encouraging homeowners to make their homes safer by trimming low-hanging branches from conifers, installing sprinklers and upgrading wood roofs with fire-resistant materials, Geyer said, adding that some of the steps were taken as early as 20 years ago.
“We started off slow and people thought we were doing something when it wasn’t that urgent,” Guyer said.
In recent years, there has also been a rethinking underway about how forests should be managed to prevent fires.
Banff National Park was established in 1885 and is Canada’s oldest national park. Until 1983, park officials implemented a strict fire suppression policy and did not take significant measures to prevent or control fires.
The result is now that there is dense forest everywhere, mainly coniferous trees, which are extremely flammable.
Mr. Tavernini, a fire and vegetation expert with Parks Canada, said historical photos of the area before the park was established show a greater variety of trees and more open spaces. He said local First Nations often used lightning and controlled burns to cut down trees, leading to thinning of the forest.
Park authorities have conducted controlled burns in recent years, but perhaps none more massive or visually striking than the 81-acre firebreak created last year along a main road in Banff Park.
A larger fire barrier was built this winter in neighboring Yoho National Park, and work will begin later this year on a third fire barrier near Lake Louise, one of Banff’s most popular attractions.
A logging company was hired to cut down trees at the first two sites and implement the projects in exchange for the timber. Shelly Tamelin, wildfire risk reduction program manager for Parks Canada, said Parks Canada also received a total of $80,000 from the sale of the harvested timber to the two fire protection districts.
Fire fences, which clear flammable conifers, are designed to prevent the fire from spreading to other areas. They also provide a staging area for firefighters to get water from nearby ponds to directly attack the fire.
At the same time, park authorities are aware that caution is needed when clear-cutting within precious national parks.
“We’re trying to select areas,” Ms. Tamerlin said, “where we need to cut down the fewest trees to create the most open space.”
