Photo: BC Wildfire Service
On July 3, 2021, structural protection was set up at the Skeetchestn Indian Band Institute.
Sketchestn members have been warned that the land will not be the same as when they returned home after a month-long evacuation order due to Lake Sparks.
With less than a year to go before the 90,000-hectare fire threatens bandages and infrastructure, Mike Anderson, CEO of the Scottish Natural Resources Corporation, says the community is addressing the challenges ahead.
“After the fire is extinguished, you feel relief, and then you see the devastation. And it’s a very serious psychological impact, ”Anderson said.
According to Anderson, the community is still suffering emotionally, psychologically and economically.
“We are all suffering. Our backyards are on fire, and the places we know are strange to us now. We have lost the goods, but we have lost our recovery areas, ”said Anderson.
“In three or four years, there will be plants again, but now, it is a horrible scene. That, and because we have a lot of work to do to replace the burnt things, is very bad for many people.
When the bushfires burn, Anderson says, the ground does not hold water, which leads to land stability problems. He said workers should clear more than 65 landslides on the Dedman-Videt road between September and late December.
According to Anderson, the community has been planning flooding from the sub-city to the highway to clean the bridge that connects the main road.
According to Anderson, the community had to come up with rescue instructions for anyone who collected firewood in the state. In the past, some companies said: “They save without exception.[ed] Everything.
“Not only black wood, but also green will be saved if it is thrown in, so we have developed some guidelines.… Those guidelines are not intended to produce anything but black wood. There is, ”Anderson said.
He said every green tree is needed for hydrology and wildlife habitat.
“Two are more valuable than two quarters,” says Anderson.
For the first year, companies are making sure that only part of the wood around the water is removed and that even if it burns – and that “red-burned” trees are kept away.
“There is wood with all the needles, but they are red and you know the tree is dead. አለ There is a hydrological value for those dead needles for the first year or two, ”Anderson said.
He believes it will take decades – 30 years to regenerate the forest, and three or four years to restore berries and other plants.
According to Anderson, about 90 percent of Sketchestn are hunters and collectors, and their food supply is reduced when berry plants are burned and the deer and other games are overcrowded.
For a year or two, he predicted that there would be little berry road.
“After three years, it will probably be better than before. But it will take some time, ”said Anderson.
“For the first year or two, you have to allow everything to go back to the way it was before.
According to Anderson, the band has hundreds of miles to replace, and the community has about 200 miles[200 km]to protect it, so two fire retardant machines are in good condition.
He said about 50 archaeological sites have been discovered in the process.
Anderson said, “We are finding places everywhere that are impossible.”
“We are getting a lot of movement up and down. We got it by looking at these firefighters. ”
Anderson said he wanted to see government recognition – not only First Nations – Sketchestn, but also other countries affected by last year’s wildfires – affected by the devastation caused by wildfires in many ways.
“We get a good part of our lives, a good part of our food and medicine and some of our technology projects from the ground up. But after the land is burned, that hasn’t been there for a while,” Anderson said.
“There is no real recognition of the impact – not only psychological and emotional, but also financial impact – the fire was on one of the governments.”
Anderson also said that he would like to see the government realize the value of land by preparing and fighting fires.
“The sooner we create those relationships, the better. And first of all, take governments seriously – not to make fun of them, but to help us all fight the fires that affect us.
