Parks Canada removes trees, burns debris to slow wildfires near Banff

BANFF · Parks Canada is conducting tree removal and controlled burns in the forests around Banff over the coming months to mitigate wildfire threats to nearby towns. The agency says the work, which involves creating fuel breaks and thinning wooded areas, aims to protect Banff, Harvie Heights and Canmore. It is also designed to provide firefighters with more time to react if a blaze approaches. Parks Canada attributes the need for these measures to climate change, which it says is leading to longer, hotter and more unpredictable fire seasons.

One major initiative is the Tunnel Toe wildfire risk reduction project in the Tunnel Mountain area, where mechanical clearing and pile burning will occur this fall and winter. This project is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2027 and will treat more than 211 hectares. Trails will generally stay open, but temporary closures may be enforced near active work zones. Another project south of the Sulphur Mountain Gondola, adjacent to the Middle Springs neighbourhood, plans for 55 hectares of tree removal and thinning.

That work would follow 78 hectares treated near Sundance Trail and Valleyview in the 2025-26 period. The Sulphur Mountain area project is expected to finish by summer 2027, pending a successful contractor bid. "Reducing forest fuels along the base of Sulphur Mountain can slow a wildfire’s advance, giving crews additional time to make critical decisions and protect people and infrastructure," Parks Canada said. Smaller crews using chainsaws will also thin fuels in Valleyview, Middle Springs, around the Cave and Basin National Historic Site, and near the SP6 campground.

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Additional clearing will take place around Parks Canada facilities across the Banff Field Unit, including campgrounds, day-use areas, operational buildings, staff housing and utilities. The woody debris generated from this work will be gathered and burned in piles within the Tunnel Toe and Spray Valley-Middle Springs project areas throughout the fall and winter. The agency is urging the public to respect all closures and stay away from active sites. It warned that signs, fencing and tape marking hazardous areas must not be removed or bypassed.

Looking ahead, Parks Canada has plans for further wildfire risk reduction on another 1,762 hectares within 15 kilometres of Banff in future years. Targeted areas include Cascade Valley, Bumpy Meadows, Healy-Brewster, Fairholme and sections within the Banff townsite itself. These efforts are coordinated through the Bow Valley Interagency Wildfire Committee, a group that includes Parks Canada, the Alberta government, the towns of Banff and Canmore, the Municipal District of Bighorn and two improvement districts. The committee's role is to align risk reduction projects, emergency preparedness and public messaging across different jurisdictions.

With files from CochraneNow