A Prince George-area campaigner against the use of herbicides in the region’s forests is pointing to the Little Bobtail Lake wildfire to support his position.
With the 25,000-hectare fire contained, James Steidle of Stop the Spray B.C. conducted a survey of the area and says he found that spots where there was a high percentage of deciduous trees like aspen did a better job of standing up to the blaze.
“It has long been known that aspen don’t burn as readily as conifer trees like pine,” Steidle said in a press release this week. “This fire is a good demonstration of how aspen can be used to benefit fire suppression and make our forests more resistant to fires and catastrophic failure.”
Steidle said government law requires the elimination of aspen trees and makes it illegal for forest companies to allow mixed stands. Herbicides are routinely applied throughout this area to achieve this objective, he said.