This project will continue until March 15, 2023, as long as the ground remains frozen.
Mechanical thinning equipment will be used to selectively remove dead pine trees (killed by mountain pine beetle) and spruce trees. Mechanical thinning allows Parks Canada to improve community wildfire protection and remove mountain pine beetle-killed trees when conditions for prescribed burning may not be cost-efficient or may be unsafe or unlikely to be effective for reducing wildfire risk. Mechanical thinning also helps create conditions for safer, less complex, and more efficient prescribed fires in the future.
Unlike the wide-open Community Fireguard, the Signal Mountain fireguard will consist of narrow bands where the fuels have been significantly reduced between fire-resistant trees such as Douglas-fir and aspen. Fuel reduction and forest-thinning activities can improve the effectiveness of fire suppression techniques, limit fire intensity, and reduce the potential for spot fires from wind-blown embers.