McKinley Fuel Management Prescription & Implementation

CLIENT/LOCATION

City of Kelowna – McKinley Mountain Park, BC

DATE

2024

Background

Cabin developed a 17 ha fuel management prescription for McKinley Mountain Park and completed the implementation of 9.2 ha; another contractor completed the remaining 7.8 ha. The goals of this project were:

reduce the wildfire risk for adjacent landowners
address and enhance wildfire values
create a defensible and safe control line for suppression
prepare for a potential prescribed burn in treatment unit C.

We utilized our in-house biologist to provide treatment guidance for critical habitat areas and species at risk. We were the sole contractor for the planning and implementation phases and acted as the supervisor on behalf of the City of Kelowna.

The following was incorporated into the treatment:

Coarse woody debris habitat piles
Manual thinning
Pruning & debris management
Wildlife tree retention
Wildlife retention patches
Unpruned thickets in the understory were incorporated for wildlife

Challenge

Challenges faced during the planning of this project involved creating contingency due to municipal by-law prohibiting burning. Large quantities of CWD needed to be managed without the ability to burn or be removed from site.

Solution

Cabin mitigated this challenge through the creation of habitat piles in openings, where surplus CWD was able to be utilized for wildlife habitat while not creating an increase in wildfire threat. Operationally, challenges involved steep slopes and irregular treatment area shapes. The City of Kelowna ended up approving pile burning for these treatment units, which allowed crews to sufficiently manage for fine fuels.