Selous Creek Fuel Management

Updated July 19, 2022

The Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) and Kalesnikoff are collaborating on a fuel management project near Selous Creek that is designed to reduce the risk of wildfire adjacent to the City of Nelson. This project is supported through funding from the Forest Enhancement Society of BC and covers an area of approximately 80 hectares (ha) directly upslope from the Great Northern Rail Trail on provincial Crown land.

The main objectives of the project are to reduce wildfire risk by retaining large, healthy fire-resistant trees while removing dense understory trees and surface fuels, enhancing infrastructure protection and supporting future suppression efforts. Similar projects have been completed in our area including in West Arm Provincial Park and Harrop Procter Community Forest. The Selous Creek project is unique due to its scope and scale, as well as the high level of collaboration between regional and municipal governments, fire services and a local timber licensee.

Checkout this video Kalesnikoff has put together on the project.

This project started in 2017 and consists of three general types of treatment: mechanical harvesting, hand treatment of understory, and post-harvest treatment.

The mechanical harvesting was completed by Kalesnikoff as of May 2022. This involved 65 ha of partial-cut cable and ground based harvesting systems. The 13 ha hand treatment phase is half completed with 7 ha treated in June 2022, and the remainder scheduled for this fall. The post-harvest treatment phase will commence in late July to prepare the area for a prescribed burn. This will involve a machine tied off to a cable moving across the hillside creating fuel breaks around the outer perimeter of the harvest area and around reserve patches.

The prescribed burn phase will be completed under the direction of BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) this fall and again next spring, dependent upon weather conditions and BCWS availability.

If you have questions, please contact project manager John Cathro at cathro@netidea.com or 250.505.3513.