Residents curious for an update and behind-the-scenes on local forest fuel mitigation this wildfire season are invited to attend a free open house in Nakusp this Wednesday, June 17.
Hosted by the Nakusp & Area Community Forest (NACFOR), the event unites voices from forestry, conservation, wildfire management and FireSmart to educate participants on work happening northeast of Nakusp at the Wensley Creek Cross Country Ski Trails to minimize fire-spreading foliage.
"NACFOR contractors have been working on both the commercial harvesting patches that were planned for the Wensley Creek area, and continuing hand treatment of understory and ground fuel in other areas," communications specialist Skye Cunningham shared by email.
She added there's been "a good amount of support for this work" given that Wensley Creek falls within Nakusp's fuel break area. More generally, this has included nearly $800,00 in funding from the Forestry Enhancement Society of BC to enable NACFOR to carry out fuel treatment on 73 hectares of its land.
Read Black Press Media's reporting on the scale and funding for this work
"NACFOR is also continuing to work with local residents to manage and monitor the domestic watershed, recreation, visual, wildlife and environmental values of the area," Cunningham said.
She noted most of the roads and trails around Wensley Creek remain open, especially on weekends. For the time being, the "Hairpin Way" trail, the area near the middle intersection of the network, and the area around the "Connector" trail all close intermittently as crews work weekdays, based on their harvesting and fuel mitigation tasks.
NACFOR, owned by the Village of Nakusp, has operated since 2008 and oversees 9,192 hectares of community forest.
It holds its open house from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Nakusp and District Community Complex.
