The meeting was held as scheduled. Presentations were made by Chris Valaire of the Municipal District of Lesser Slave River (#124), Tannis Blocka and Ryan Green of Alberta Forestry, and Chris Bélanger and Mike Haire of Vanderwell Contracting.
There are 23 communities that have been selected to benefit from new Community Hazardous Fuels Reduction Program. East Fawcett Lake is one of these that will benefit in the program’s first year. There were almost two dozen attendees, who actively participated in the meeting asking numerous questions (see below). The presentations and the answers to the questions were well received.
Answers to questions were recorded, and then subsequently approved by the appropriate presenter as follows:
– Exactly how close to the lake will there be activity (including work other than logging)?
There is a 100m buffer around the lake where no activity is allowed to incur. There is an additional 300m (400m total) buffer where any logging activity is not allowed to negatively affect the visual scenery from the lake. Logging activity may occur within the 400m buffer (either clear cut, or selective cutting) depending on the geography of the shoreline. No logging nor other activity will occur with the 100m buffer.
– Is the map of planned work available to the public?
There is a layout map showing approved logging areas. It is not available online, but is available to the community if asked (see excerpt). The map shows areas of land that are scheduled to be clear cut by each of the logging companies (Vanderwell and Tolko) over two decades. The map shows temporary roads that will be constructed (and then made impassable) in red as well as the 400m buffer from the shoreline. In addition, the map shows in thick black lines, blocks of land where trees are scheduled to be harvested in the near future by Vanderwell (you may have noticed the red flagging around the area already). All areas outside of the shoreline buffer are approved and planned to be clear cut. Much of the area immediately east of Fawcett Lake Resort is shown in white, but is within a block of land where harvesting will take place this year (2025). This area will be assessed as the work is done and either be clear cut or be selective cut as deemed feasible at that time.
Note that Tolko does not currently have immediate plans to harvest near East Fawcett Lake, although they do have approval and could make plans anytime.
– Is there a new vehicle access being built to the land or to the lake that will remain once the work is completed? Can this be prevented?
Logging companies in Alberta are directed by Alberta Environment to stay away for shorelines, to only make temporary roads, and to maintain all existing trails. This is to minimize the permanent effect on land and lake access in areas where they have harvested. No activity will take place within 100m of the shoreline so no additional access to the lake will be made. Once the work is done, all temporary roads will be made impassable so no additional access to the land will be made either.
Vanderwell is looking for input on where existing trails exist. If anyone has electronic GPS maps of existing trails in the area to be harvested, they can be submitted and the trail will be assessed if it needs to be maintained.
– What will the land look like when the work is completed (trails, roads, usable clearings)?
All areas shown on the map are approved to be clear cut, but there are some areas where this type of work is not feasible and selective cutting will be done instead, or trees may be left standing. In areas that are clear cut, all growth above ground level will be removed for up to 97% of the area and all growth will be left standing in a minimum of 3% of the area. Non-harvestable wood will be slash piled into large burn piles. After waiting a year for these piles to dry, they will all be burned at the same time (being conscious of wind direction and proximity to local communities). Existing trails will be maintained so that they are usable after the work is done. All temporary roads will be made impassable after the work is done. The clear cut area will be reseeded. It is likely that the area near residential areas will be reseeded with only deciduous trees, to reduce future wildfire risk.
Subsequent to the logging activity, the Municipal District will designated certain areas as Fire Guards and will then mulch these areas so that there are no trees and no underbrush growth remaining. This work will be repeated every couple of years as funds are available.
– Will there be any sort of camp or administration building set up. Where will this be?
There is an area south-east of East Fawcett Lake, on the private haul road where stockpiling has been done for several years. If it is decided that any temporary buildings are needed, this is where they will be placed. No permanent structures will be constructed.
– How close to populated areas will heavy equipment be operating and when will this happen?
As can be seen on the map, all areas immediately east of Fawcett Lake Resort and Broken Paddle are already approved for logging work. In addition, it shows a temporary road to be constructed parallel to East Fawcett Lake Rd about 100m further east. It is planned that sawing and other heavy equipment, as well as trucks will be operating in these areas which will be heard within residential areas. However, helicopter and non-equipment related noise is not expected.
– Will we experience construction noise pollution during the camping season (May to Sept)? – Is there a schedule of when will work be done in each area? – What days of week and hours of day should we expect work to be done?
Work will begin in mid-August and is expected to be completed in late November. Once conditions permit it, work will likely be 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. It is not expected that conditions will permit work during night time hours until late September.
– How much hauling traffic should be expected on East Fawcett Lake Rd, and where? – Is there a plan for repairs to the road during and after the work?
No heavy traffic will be on Fawcett Lake East Rd, north of the private haul road. Before the ground freezes, heavy traffic will turn south off of the private haul road and travel it to the corner just north of Smith. After the ground freezes, all heavy traffic will be on the private haul road. While heavy traffic is using East Fawcett Lake Rd, the Municipal District will be committed to assess the road condition on a weekly basis and maintain it accordingly. It is possible that road maintenance work will take place on a daily basis during this time.
– Can the Fire Guard plan be reduced because of the commercial logging?
Once logging work is done the Municipal District will assess where a Fire Guard can most easily be constructed and remain effective, using input received from the public earlier this year. Note, at this time, the MD does not yet have funding to build the Fire Guard.
– Will there be an opportunity for the public to gather firewood from the area after the work is done? When will we know the time is right to use the land again?
Once work begins in an area, access to that area will be restricted from the public. Once the heavy trucks are done hauling and heavy equipment is removed, access to the area of work will be allowed to the public once again. Later, heavy equipment will return to the area to build the slash piles (burn piles), during this short time access will be restricted again. Firewood (logs) will be removed from the area of work, and piled in a central location where it will be properly marked that it is available to the public. This location and the timing of when it is available will be later announced.
Note that a permit is required from the Alberta Government to gather firewood from crown land, even if it has already been cut by a logging company. A permit for personal use is free of charge and can be obtained online (there is a link on the Fawcett Lake Resort website document called Friends of Fawcett).
– Can the haul road connecting to Calling Lake be blocked off seasonally, to help reduce theft in our area?
Logging companies in Alberta are directed to leave all permanent roads accessible to the public. Because of this, they are not allowed to block off the haul road even seasonally. The public could lobby the Alberta Forestry department to have this road blocked off, which may be successful. It was pointed out by an attendee at the meeting that there is a safety benefit of having this road open as an emergency exit from our area (through Calling Lake).
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As announced this spring at the Annual Meeting of the Campers Club of Fawcett Lake Resort, Vanderwell Contractors will be doing some logging work this year near East Fawcett Lake. The Municipal District is holding a Public Open House discussion with representatives from Vanderwell, to ask for input that could help mitigate how this work will affect the nearby communities. Vanderwell has graciously agreed to work with the public when possible, to try to address these concerns. The meeting will be held in the Store Community Building at Fawcett Lake Resort on Friday, June 13 at 10.00am.
The majority of this logging work is to take place on the east side East Fawcett Lake Rd. Near Fawcett Lake Resort, work will mostly be straight east of Walleye Drive. Near Broken Paddle, work will be in the entire area east of the government road. This is commercial work which has already been approved. In addition, it is expected that work will also include the clearing of Fire Guards (100m wide) just east of Fawcett Lake Resort as well as south and west of Broken Paddle. There was a telephone conference held earlier this spring regarding this Fire Guard plan which helped to clarify this plan.
The hope is that these two projects can be combined to reduce unnecessary clearing of natural areas. Additional information is available:
– the announcement of the Open House released by the Municipal District
– the Vanderwell Long Term Logging Plan map near Fawcett Lake Resort
– the Fire Guard plan
This meeting is open to the public. Everyone is welcome to attend to learn more about how and when the work will be done, and to voice their concerns to those who are able to address them if possible. Fawcett Lake Resort management will be attending this meeting and will be raising the following concerns.
– Exactly how close to the lake will there be activity (including work other than logging)?
– Is there a new vehicle access being built to the land or to the lake that will remain once the work is completed? Can this be prevented?
– What will the land look like when the work is completed (trails, roads, usable clearings)?
– Will there be any sort of camp or administration building set up. Where will this be?
– How close to populated areas will heavy equipment be operating and when will this happen?
– Will we experience construction noise pollution during the camping season (May to Sept)?
– Is there a schedule of when will work be done in each area?
– What days of week and hours of day should we expect work to be done?
– How much hauling traffic should be expected on East Fawcett Lake Rd, and where?
– Is there a plan for repairs to the road during and after the work?
– Can the Fire Guard plan be reduced because of the commercial logging?
– Will there be an opportunity for the public to gather firewood from the area after the work is done? When will we know the time is right?
We must realize that the reduction of hazardous fuels is proven to reduce wildfire risk. In addition, the communities around East Fawcett Lake were founded on the logging industry. We all love the nature around us, yet we all must remember that forested areas are a resource and that the regular harvesting of this resource (even those areas near us) provides a benefit to us all.
If anyone would like additional information or would like to add concerns or questions to this list, please contact Curtis Albach at 587.877.0746 or Curtis@fawcettlakeresort.com .