A March update on our Logging Operations
- Creston Community Forest
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
This past fall and winter, the Creston Community Forest (CCF) completed a 57 hectare block in Russell Creek as part of its wildfire risk reduction (WRR) program. The intent of the project was to reduce the risk of wildfire above the townsite of Kitchener, BC and was done by thinning the dense canopy of trees by removing 50% of the stand. The next step will be to reduce the thick concentrations of smaller trees and shrubs and woody debris covering the forest floor that would otherwise contribute to the spread of wildfire.
The community forest has also been focusing on salvage logging the burned timber in the Peterson and Spider Creek drainages. This is in response to the September 2025 Kidd Creek wildfire that burned approximately 450 hectares which included older cutblocks were fully forested. Given the scale and intensity of the wildfire, critical areas of these drainages were however, left untouched by the fire.
Examples include timber on either side of creek draws and certain species of trees such as Douglas-fir, larch and yellow pine that can be resilient to scorching due to their thick bark. Not all burned areas are being logged and trees that have a chance of surviving where logging is occurring are being reserved from harvest.
Once operations are complete in these drainages, our logging contractor will move to the Birch Creek drainage where the community forest will continue to work into late fall.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Wildfire Risk Reduction
Since 2019, the community forest has continued to help reduce the risk of wildfire throughout the Creston Valley carried out by its WRR projects.
This spring, our local contractor will resume this work in the next few weeks, focusing on Lower Birch, Mt. Thompson and Goat/ Arrow Mtn.
All these locations are WRR blocks that were logged/ thinned in 2024. This work continues to be funded by the province’s Forest Enhancement Society of BC program which the community forest is extremely grateful for.
