Jasper fire

[gerry]

"Parks Canada knew": Former Jasper official speaks out about federal mismanagement in aftermath of wildfire

A former senior planner of Jasper National Park is blaming “unresponsive” and “politicized” Parks Canada leadership for last week's devastating Jasper wildfire.

tnc.news

Like is usually the case these days theres much more to the story then the government and media want to tell you. This fire was totally preventable but the ideology of Parks Canada wouldn't let them do anything that resembles common sense.

 

[DrMike]

We lived in Jasper for two years. Seeing the scenes of destruction, my wife and I recognise many of the places destroyed. We aren't certain whether the house we lived in or the church I pastored still stands. I am deeply saddened by this fire, but as Gerry intimates, I anticipated this for some time. It is a good way to get a fine if someone should be so crass as to attempt to clear underbrush or deadfall. Preventative burns were discouraged. What happened in Jasper is repeated, I suspect, throughout much of Canada, and appears to have been the case in much of the Pacific Northwest and California in the USA. There is no greater tyrant than the individual who is acting for your own good.

 

[gerry]

I thought of you DrMike when I heard of it and know it's a special place for you. I hope that there is some accountability coming for those who were negligent and allowed this to happen.
In our new town of Sicamous there has been a fire above us since the 18th of July. The fire service has done nothing to stop it but thankfully rain and cooler temperatures have greatly improved things. Last year government incompetence caused a lot of destruction with the Adams lake fire and that was fresh on the minds of many of our new neighbors.

 

[DrMike]

Stay safe, Gerry & Maria. I just watched a video on an RCMP site as the members passed through the townsite, matching the scenes with Google Street Scenes. I knew many of the scenes shown. Jasper has been a jewel in the Canada Parks system.

 

[gerry]

I like the town of Jasper much better than Banff and it's sad to see what happened to it. It will take some time to rebuild. We will have to see if there's any shady land grabs coming in the aftermath like what happened in Maui.

 

[salmonchaser]

Down here it’s not the Forest Service; as a whole, or the BLM its the environmentalist movement. Two or three Jack Ass Lawyers from two or three organizations get together and sue both agencies any time they want to do any critical forest management. Bunch of Ass Hats. Add in climate change. Longer drier fire season kind of thing. Stuff is going to burn.
For the circum polar boreal forest one of the most significant problems that has resulted from climate change. Doesent really matter if you are in the school of a natural and historically repeated or the man made club, is because of the shorter warmer winter many areas are seeing two flights of the Beatles that are killing the trees instead of one flight a year. Add in a little lightning and some narrow minded management and boom. This is occurring in Europe, Russia, Asia and Canada as well as the northern rocky mtn states.
I had planned on overnighting in Jasper on my way up to Norther Alberta for my moose hunt. My understanding is the B&B I was going to stay in is gone. It’s small potatoes for those folks but I’ll not be asking for a refund. What a nightmare they must be having.