About one year of the Interior’s allowable annual cut has been scorched by wildfires this year.
“The preliminary estimate is that about 53 million cubic metres of timber has been affected by wildfire,” said The Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations, and Rural Development.
“We don’t yet have precise figures for Williams Lake and Quesnel.”
Staff according to the Ministry are assessing the areas burnt by wildfires and will be prioritizing areas for reforestation and wildlife habitat restoration.
Regional staff are also currently finalizing a timber salvage strategy and more details will be available in the coming weeks.
“There will be some areas within the fire perimeter that are unsalvageable, salvageable and stands that the fire skipped that remain green and should be retained to preserve timber and non-timber values,” adds the Ministry.
“As with any significant event, we will be conducting a review of the response to this year’s wildfires.”
$140 million has been allocated as part of this year’s budget update 2017-18 for wildfire risk reduction, wildlife habitat restoration – including reforestation, and promoting FireSmart.