The rehabilitation of Crown land impacted by wildfire suppression activities in the Nadina Natural Resource District has been underway since September 2018 and will continue into 2020.

The Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development is responsible for rehabilitating areas on Crown land that have been affected by firefighting operations, as the first step in land-based recovery where wildfires have occurred.

The B.C. government is collaborating with communities affected by the 2018 wildfires to gather information, plan the rehabilitation of fireguards and carry out the prescribed work using heavy equipment. Fireguards are the areas around the perimeter of a wildfire that were cleared of trees and other vegetation to slow the fire’s spread.

Although rehabilitation work is complete at many of the 2018 wildfire locations, work on other sites on Crown land will continue into 2020. Wildfire site rehabilitation projects within the Nadina Fire Zone include:

Verdun Mountain wildfire: 47,610 hectares, originated 35 kilometres south of Burns Lake

• 193 kilometres of fireguard require rehabilitation.
• Rehabilitation work on the south side of the wildfire site is complete.
• Rehabilitation work on the north side is underway and is expected to be complete in 2019.

Nadina Lake wildfire: 86,767 hectares, originated 40 kilometres south of Houston, the largest fire within the Nadina District in 2018

• 324 kilometres of fireguard (known to date) require rehabilitation.
• Field work for the rehabilitation plan is underway.
• Archeology assessments are complete.
• Removal of decked wood from creating the fireguards is underway in the vicinity of the Owen Lake recreation site.
• Rehabilitation work will be carried out in 2020.

Gilmore wildfire: 216 hectares, originated eight kilometres southwest of Topley

• 23 kilometres of fireguard have been rehabilitated.
• Rehabilitation work has been completed.

Cheslatta wildfire: 98,100 hectares, originated 58 kilometres southeast of Burns Lake

• 55 kilometres of fireguard require rehabilitation.
• Prescription planning is underway.
• Rehabilitation work will be carried out in 2020.

Perow wildfire: Eight hectares, originated 15 kilometres northwest of Houston

• Four kilometres of fireguard have been rehabilitated.
• Rehabilitation work has been completed.

Cheslaslie Arm wildfire: 9,253 hectares, originated 18 kilometres west of Jim Smith Point on the Ootsa Reservoir, about 85 kilometres southeast of Burns Lake

• 13 kilometres of fireguard require rehabilitation.
• Prescription planning for rehabilitating fireguards is complete.
• Rehabilitation work is underway and is expected to be complete by the end of 2019.