The city is planning to clear trees from six sites, totalling 123 hectares, this year to reduce the risk of wildfires effecting the city.
The sites are the last of the top-priority wildfire hazard areas identified by the city in 2005, city urban forester Lauren Phillips said. Pine, spruce and sub-alpine fir will be cut and cleared from the sites, while as much Douglas fir and deciduous trees as possible will be retained
"From a wildfire hazard perspective pine, especially dead pine, pose the greatest risk," she said. "Small trees can bring the fire from the ground to the crown, which is where [forest fires] become difficult to deal with."
Funding for three of the sites - near Chief Lake Road, Nechako Ridge and Otway - was provided through grants administrated by the Union of B.C. Municipalities. The three sites total 40.7 hectares of the total work.
The remaining work near Beaverly, Blue Spuce and Blackburn will be funded by selling the logged trees, Phillips said. The sites have less barriers to economically harvesting the trees than other sites which have been treated previously, she said.
"It's closer to a conventional clear cut that our current treatments," Phillips said. "The timing will depend on the log market. I think we can expect to get it cost neutral."
The areas which are cleared will be left to naturally regenerate, she said, although some replanting may be needed in some areas.
"We have worked with groups... to have minimal impact on trails," Phillips added.
The city is working to identify a new set of priority areas to be treated, and has applied for $0.5 million in grants to do additional work in 2012.
The majority of the clearing work will take place in the winter to prevent damage to soft ground.
