Thompson-Nicola Regional District will apply to the Union BC Municipalities for a $2,739 grant to be used for the preparation of fuel management prescriptions for the Glen Grove and Maple Mission area south of Barriere in Lower North Thompson (Area O).
A high fuel hazard has been identified at the subdivision, which is located off Agate Bay Road in Louis Creek.
In a letter to the TNRD, Barriere fire chief Al Kirkwood said that more than 50 households live in the vicinity of Glen Grove or Maple Mission.
The area has scored as a combination of moderate and high wildfire threat rating in the TNRD Community Wildfire Protection Plan.
Kirkwood noted that Area O director Bonnie Cruzelle Myram supports the initiative.
Forester Bruce Morrow has done a quick review of the area and would be willing to provide Crown land prescriptions.
“Mr. Morrow’s initial assessments found the area to have an extreme wildfire threat score in the specific area of concern,” the fire chief wrote.
According to Morrow’s report, the 2003 McLure/Barriere wildfire reached the western edge of the area. The area was selectively harvested about 10 years ago. All lodgepole pine left over 15 cm are dead. -
Two assessment plots done in the area resulted in scores of extreme wildfire hazard threat.
Factors contributing to the scores included a dense, immature Douglas fir stand, dead standing lodgepole pine, very low crown base height, south aspect and very steep slopes in the Louis Creek gully.
Other proposed fuel management prescription projects in the TNRD would be $10,081 for North Lytton Botanie Lake Road in Blue Sky Country (Area I), and $8,343 for the East Clinton and Loon Lake in Bonaparte Plateau (Area E).
TNRD directors voted to seek funding for the three projects during a board meeting held July 21.