Alberta government pushing Hinton, other communities for more wildfire mitigation work

A helicopter works a forest fire outside of Jasper, Alta., on July 26, 2024. (Amber Bracken/The Canadian Press) (AMBER BRACKEN/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

The provincial government is requesting Hinton and other communities in Alberta undertake more wildfire mitigation work in the wake of the Jasper wildfire last summer.

Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen sent Hinton Mayor Nicholas Nissen a letter outlining the actions the province would like to see taken, including establishing larger fireguards around the community.

“While I am pleased that many communities have applied for fireguard funding, I have concerns that the proposals are not broad enough to reduce the negative impacts of a Jasper-like wildfire event,” Loewen wrote.

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Surrounded by coniferous trees, Hinton is situated in a wildfire-prone region that has seen multiple blazes over the past few years, including the Jasper wildfire and the 2023 fire that forced Edson to evacuate.

“The Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta (FRIAA) Fireguard Program is intended for large-scale mitigation work, which will help to bring tree-top wildfires to the ground where they are easier to control,” Loewen wrote. “I am requesting that your community take bolder and stronger actions to achieve those objectives.”

The FRIAA receives provincial funding to administer the FireSmart and Community Fireguard Programs, which support mitigation and preparedness within communities and on municipal lands.

According to Loewen, the province has asked the FRIAA to approve funding for projects that establish large fireguards several hundred metres wide, unless a small fireguard complements an established mitigation plan.

The province is also pushing for clearing all flammable wood fuel and land-clearing debris. This would include a long-term strategy to maintain the fireguard’s fuel-free condition and the absence of hazardous fuels between the fireguard and the built environment.

In addition, projects should find ways to reduce treatment and maintenance costs through means such as selling timber and fibre or offering cleared land for grazing.

Alexandru Cioban, spokesperson for Loewen, said in an email that letters were sent to communities “encouraging to take bold action to reduce the risk of wildfire” and apply for FRIAA programs.

“Alberta saw two of its busiest wildfire seasons on record, and as we go into the 2025 wildfire season our work to mitigate the risks of catastrophic wildfires is more important than ever,” Cioban said.

Hinton council discussed the letter on Tuesday (Feb. 4), where CAO Jordan Panasiuk said he believed this was a general letter to all applicants for FRIAA funding.

“When I read this letter, I don’t believe that this is specific to our application,” Panasiuk said. “Our application was $3.3 million, and it’s looking at a fireguard for the majority of town of about 250 metres, so we’re well within the realm of what was requested here.”

He confirmed the Town has submitted three applications and has so far received funding for the planning application. Another application for FireSmarting within town was not approved. The fireguard one referred to in the letter remained outstanding.

Coun. Stuart Taylor, however, interpreted the letter as the minister specifically asking the Town of Hinton to go further with its fire mitigation plans.

“I wouldn’t just fall asleep on this,” Taylor said. “I would write the minister back and ask him to engage us at a very high and strategic level to look at what we’ve done and what we can do with some of his very senior staff.”

He added they should also challenge the minister on what the provincial government was doing to prevent wildfires in the region and how the Town could recover mitigation costs.

Because the Town had a meeting with its FRIAA representative this week where they could get more information, council decided not to send a reply letter to Loewen and instead accepted the minister’s letter as information.

As of Feb. 5, the wildfire danger for the Edson Forest Area, which Hinton is located in, is rated as low.

- Peter Shokeir, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Jasper Fitzhugh