New Denver, Silverton and Slocan have each received the FireSmart Community Protection Achievement Award for the work they have done in partnership with the Slocan Integral Forestry Cooperative to protect their communities from wildfires.
The cooperative has been working in partnership with the villages for the past 12 years conducting wildfire interface, education events and community resilience work to reduce wildfire risk.
“They have educated us on the importance of this work and increased our awareness of wildfire behavior, and the ways in which communities can protect themselves,” said Leah Main, acting mayor of Silverton, in a news release. “Their vision and ability to organize and accomplish the wildfire protection work has resulted in a critical zone of protection around our villages and adjacent properties.”
The cooperative has helped the three villages acquire over $2 million in grants during the last 12 years.
“Working with SIFCo over the past decade has proven to be a great asset in reducing our wildfire risk by taking on doing a whole community wildfire mitigation plan instead of doing a patch work effort,” said Leonard Casley, New Denver mayor, in a news release. “This has led us to greater success in protecting our communities.”
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accepts the village’s FireSmart recognition from Michelle Griffiths, SIFCo’s coordinator of the Slocan Valley Wildfire Resiliency Program . (Contributed)
