Kalesnikoff Lumber development supervisor Gerald Cordeiro (left) and woodlands manager Tyler Hodgkinson (right) speak to Nelson city council in 2017. Now Kalesnikoff will be collaborating with the RDCK to mitigate the risk of a forest fire. (Greg Nesteroff photo)
NELSON, B.C – The threat of a wildfire has brought lumber giant Kalesnikoff and local government together in collaboration on Sealous Creek.
When Kalesnikoff is looking to log 150 hectares from Sealous Creek this fall, they will harvest different species than they normally would.
Gerald Cordeiro, forest development manager with Kalesnikoff says more flame-resistant species like Ponderosa Pine and Douglas fir will be left, as they can potentially create tougher conditions for a blaze to spread.
“It limits the potential for a fire to spread from crown to crown, has fewer ways for the fire to climb up in the canopy, and could create more defensible spaces for a fire crew to attack the fire”, Cordeiro says.
The project will affect Kalesnikoff’s profit from the area somewhat.
“Normally we would not be doing a lot of logging on that hillside because it has a high visual quality objective set on it. Our normal process there would not be to do much logging aside management for forest health. Even if this is a breakeven we are more than happy to do it”, Cordeiro says.
