Community Hazardous Fuels Reduction Program

Overview

The Community Hazardous Fuels Reduction Program has been implemented to strengthen wildfire resilience in communities that face increasing wildfire threat due to longer fire seasons, higher fire intensity, and the accumulation of hazardous fuels (trees).

Note: this program will operate only on public lands and not within community boundaries or on private land.

Program purpose

The Community Hazardous Fuels Reduction Program focuses on removing and managing hazardous trees within 5 km of vulnerable communities to reduce wildfire risk and improve firefighting effectiveness.

Conifers, such as spruce and pine, are abundant in Alberta’s forests and can be extremely flammable in dry conditions. By aggressively extinguishing wildfires over the past 100 years, many of Alberta’s forests have become over mature and pose a risk of fuelling intense and fast-moving wildfires.

Due to this threat, the Community Hazardous Fuels Reduction Program will mobilize and direct forest companies to immediately accelerate the current forest harvest plans and remove hazardous trees within 5 km of high-risk communities.

• Read the Community Hazardous Fuels Reduction Program fact sheet

Fuel reduction and the environment

Wildfires are a reality in Alberta and continue to impact countless individuals and communities. While a swift and strong wildfire suppression response continues to be a key pillar of this complex management issue, proactive measures must also be taken to reduce fuel loads available for wildfires, particularly around those communities most at risk.

Alberta’s forests have long relied on natural occurrences such as wildfires to help them stay healthy. The Community Hazardous Fuels Reduction Program will improve forest health and make an immediate improvement to the wildfire resilience of communities by removing very flammable conifer forests around them.

Alberta’s regulatory framework is robust and includes standard operating ground rules used by forestry companies while harvesting, including strict provisions to avoid critically sensitive areas, nesting sites and to protect water sources. The timing of wildfire hazard reduction work will vary depending on the planning process, consultation requirements, and regional conditions.

Communities assessed

More than 200 communities in Alberta’s Forest Protection Area were analyzed to determine the amount of nearby hazardous trees for harvest. There are 32 communities prioritized for hazardous fuel reduction work beginning in 2025 to provide immediate positive impact.

Table 1. There are 23 communities requiring urgent hazardous tree reduction work beginning in 2025, sorted by Alberta Wildfire’s Forest Area offices.

Table 2. There are 9 communities that require additional harvest planning and consultation. While there may be some harvesting planned or underway within 5 km of these communities, it is not enough to significantly lower the risk. A process is underway to identify additional areas for harvest.

Impact on communities

If your community has been identified under this program, it signifies a critical need to reduce hazardous trees in the surrounding area.

Landscapes around prioritized communities will change and will look different as these projects proceed. Adjustments to these changes may take time. Forestry companies are responsible for ensuring regrowth of forests in all harvested areas. The focus will be on reducing regrowth flammability by replacing coniferous trees with less flammable deciduous, or leafy, trees where possible, or replanting less densely.

The local Forest Area staff will notify communities of the planned harvest and treatment of nearby hazardous trees. We will make every attempt to gather and integrate constructive feedback from communities and municipalities to best implement the program.

Role of forest companies

The program uses existing agreements with forest companies to adjust harvesting plans to make an immediate impact in reducing hazardous fuels around communities. In areas where traditional harvesting is not appropriate, land managers will explore different options to reduce hazardous fuels near communities.

Alberta’s forest companies have the expertise, people, and equipment to help protect our communities by removing hazardous trees and creating 5 km wildfire hazard reduction zones around them. The program has directed forest companies to accelerate the current harvest plans to allow for an immediate and positive impact while challenging land managers to reduce hazards in areas of non-merchantable trees in coming years.

Contact

Connect with us if you have questions or need more information:

Forest area office contacts
Media inquiries: 780-420-1968
Email: [email protected]

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