Don’t be alarmed if you see smoke east of Cherryville over the next month-and-a-half.
A prescribed burning program is being planned in the South Fork area, starting Friday until Oct. 30, weather conditions permitting.
The controlled burn will assist with ecosystem restoration and will occur in several phases during the period.
The burn will be conducted by Wildfire Management Branch crews and Okanagan Shuswap Natural Resource District staff.
The South Fork burn area covers approximately 32 hectares and is about 12.5 kilometres east of Cherryville, north of Highway 6.
Historically, grasslands and open forests in the Okanagan have been renewed through frequent, low-intensity ground fires. Such fires limit tree encroachment, rejuvenate understory plants (trees and shrubs that grow beneath the forest canopy but above ground-cover plants) and help maintain open grasslands and open forests containing large trees.
