Wildfires are not typically something you’d hope for in the beautiful backdrop of Waterton Lakes National Park, but that is exactly what the doctor, Parks Canada, has prescribed.
“We know that fire suppression has left a legacy on our landscape,” Jed Cochrane, Parks Canada Fire and Vegetation Specialist said. “For 80 years, we went out and put out almost every naturally ignited fire we had on our landscape. That changed the forest communities.
“It changed the habitat, it changed the vegetation communities, and ultimately just shifted the landscape because of a lack of fire.”
The fire was started on Wednesday and continued into Thursday.
Parks Canada is using the prescribed fire to save an endangered species of pine tree. The Whitebark pine has grown in the area for generations, but is dying off at an alarming rate.
“The seedlings of Whitebark pine need an open stand. They can’t tolerate a shaded area,” Robert Sissons, Parks Canada Vegetation and Restoration Specialist, said.
“If other species are growing before them, the seedlings of Whitebark cannot grow. So, by getting a fire in there and opening it up the Whitebark has a chance to grow.”
The burn zone is 32-hundred hectares in size, located between Blakiston Creek and Red Rock Canyon. Crews performed another fire in the lower valley in April, and are now moving to the sub-alpine regions.
Sissons said Parks Canada is also worried about the Aspen tree system, as it is starting to impede on another important areas.
“In the absence of fire, Aspen will start to encroach out onto grasslands,” Sissons said. “The Fescue grasslands are an ecosystem that this park is the only one that protects in the National Parks system in Canada.”
While the Fort McMurray wildfire reminded us just how dangerous fires can be in the wilderness, in Waterton, a controlled fire could be the only remedy for a failing landscape.
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