The provincial government has approved a $153,387 grant to enable the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) to continue its FireSmart initiatives that focus on education, interagency cooperation, cross training and vegetation management.
The funding, through the Community Resiliency Investment program, covers initiatives such as the yard waste bin and chipper days, public education, employee professional development and a temporary Regional FireSmart Coordinator, according to an RDN media release.
The coordinator will manage the RDN FireSmart program and work with local fire departments to implement education including FireSmart Community Preparedness Day, home and neighbourhood assessments, Neighbourhood Champion workshops and the Neighbourhood Recognition program.
The grant will also cover fuels management prescriptions for five parks based on their proximity to residential properties, wildfire risk or historic fire activities within their boundaries:
-Descanso Bay Regional Park (Electoral Area B)
-Cox Community Park (Electoral Area B)
-Moorecroft Regional Park (Electoral Area E)
-Kipp Road Community Park (Electoral Area A)
-Malcolm Road Community Park (Electoral Area F)
A fuels management prescription describes the wildfire risk and the recommended fuel management activities to reduce that risk. Recommended prescriptions are generally located within a 1 km band between forest and urban areas. The recommendations consider many factors including fuel sources, weather influences, the landscape and land management objectives such as retaining the forest canopy.
