Cranbrook Community Forest/College of the Rockies Wildfire Risk Reduction Treatment

The Cranbrook Community Forest and College of the Rockies project was primarily focused on wildfire risk reduction. The work included fuel management and ecosystem restoration treatments to protect and restore Crown land adjacent to the City of Cranbrook and the College of the Rockies. A local logging company was hired to remove commercial timber and pulpwood and all harvesting and postharvest slash was ground on site and delivered to the Skookumchuck Pulp Mill’s co-generation bioenergy facility. Grinding of the slash waste avoided any burning on site and possible air quality impact on the adjacent City of Cranbrook. The commercial harvesting of sawlogs and pulpwood reduced the cost of post-harvest slashing because it was done at the same time as the commercial harvesting by the same contractor. Further fuel management treatments were completed using a portable chipper on steeper and more sensitive sites.