A look at some of the burnt trees that have been salvaged by the Clinton Community Forest (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

WILDFIRE RECOVERY

Clinton Community Forest salvaging burnt timber from 2017 Elephant Hill fire

Dec 7, 2021 | 4:17 PM

CLINTON, B.C. — The charred remains from the Elephant Hill wildfire are still evident in the hills above Clinton. The 2017 blaze forced the village to evacuate and left a path of destruction behind.

Four years later, the Clinton Community Forest has been working to monetize even the trees that were completely scorched.

“We have done cutting three cutting permits. We have probably done 1,000 hectares or so,” said GM of the Clinton Community Forest Steve Law. “And that’s been the severely burned stands primarily.”

Due to the threat of landslides along Highway 97, the community forest started clearing an area high above Clinton two years ago.

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The final product during the first phase of clearing only provided three-quarters of its original value, but it’s all that could be done.

“The only thing we could do with it was biomass. It got utilized for electric power. It was ground, then shipped to Domtar to run their plant essentially,” said Law.

Harvesting the low-value fibre could only be done with funding from the Forest Enhancement Society of BC.

“In terms of using the fibre, a lot of it was very low value because of the damage, or it was very small in diameter and couldn’t be used as traditional lumber,” said FESBC executive director Steve Kozuki. “And what the Clinton Community Forest wanted to do was to use that uneconomic fibre and to generate employment, to reduce the amount of burning — slash piles after the harvesting — and therefore reduce the amount of smoke in the valley. At the same time, when it’s used, that biomass is used to make green energy.”

The funding from FESBC also allows the Clinton Community Forest to create a fuel break in the area to try and prevent any future wildfires from spreading.

The work of the community forest has not only removed the sight of burned trees — painful reminders of the Elephant Hill wildfire — but has also provided a much-needed financial boost to the village.

“We lost our mill in 2019. West Fraser closed to Chasm mill and that was our major employer. That was a big part of our tax base,” noted Clinton mayor Susan Swan. “We’ve received over $460,000 from community forest since 2018, so that meant we didn’t have to raise residential taxes.”

Now that most of the completely-burnt timber is gone, the community forest will shift its focus to the partially-burnt timber as it continues to salvage what it can.