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WATCH: Meet the Okanagan's newest wildfire fighting recruits

A cattle pilot program will roll out in the coming weeks

  • Ranchers and ecologists are teaming up to mitigate wildfire risks
  • Cattle are being used to help create firebreaks and suppress invasive species

The B.C. Cattlemen's Association is locking horns with future wildfires, and are bringing their skills to Kelowna this summer.

A program, initiated in 2020, aims to lower the risk of fires near population centres, with focused cattle grazing efforts. Local herds will head out to targeted areas in the coming weeks.

Amanda Miller is a rangeland ecologist with the B.C. Cattleman’s Association. She said the program started after observing fires that approached places where cows had been.

“We saw that when fire came up to these agricultural firebreaks - so grazed pastures where there was less fuel - it was able to slow down, or turn, or, in some cases, even stop wildfire,” Miller said.

This pilot project targets areas within two kilometres of community infrastructure, adjacent to municipalities.

They plan on visiting areas in southeast Kelowna this year.

Miller pointed out, the program relies on partnership with communities and it’s very important to ensure the cattle’s movements are controlled.

“Because I don’t think people are overly excited to have them on a golf course with them,” she said.

This program is ground-breaking as similar efforts have taken place in the U.S., but with different ecosystems than British Columbia’s.

An unintended benefit, Miller said, was it inadvertently helped control invasive species like cheatgrass.

One of her hopes for this program is to change the perception and show that cattle can be a positive force for the environment.

One rancher, who works closely with Miller, has had his fair share of brush fires in the past.

“They’ve been a really big concern for us,” Keith Manders told Kelowna10. “We’ve had fires just up on the mountain above our place and we’ve had two different ranges burnt off: one in 2017 and one in 2018.”

His farm, north of Summerland, has had cattle since 1994. He’s been on evacuation alert twice before.

He’s been involved with the pilot project since 2020. Manders was asked to join because his herd is well placed to target grassy areas around Summerland, Peachland, and others.

He hauls the cows to the target area with trucks and controls their movements with horses and dogs. Manders explained they’re usually in an area for days before moving on to the next.

It’s a fine balance between allowing the cattle to eat enough grass to limit fire spread but not so much that it could potentially destroy the local native grasses.

“We want to graze it in a long term so 30 years from now it looks relatively the same to what it does today,” Manders said.

They also want to leave enough grass behind to allow deer to feed on over winter.

Both Manders and Miller are optimistic the program will work.

Published 2022-04-13 by David Hanson

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