KAMLOOPS, B.C. – A shower of tiny squirrel bones rained on ranchers’ shoulders as they rode through burned-out forests following last summer’s wildfires in the British Columbia interior.
Firefighters saw deer standing up to their necks in river water but no one knows their fate once their cover was lost in the fires.
The landscape has become an eerie place where no birds sing, no leaves rustle and blackened rocks protrude through the ash.
“We saw bones of cattle that got burned in the fire and if wildlife got burned, it is one of those things that are hard to find,” said Graham Strachan, an agrologist with the province’s agriculture ministry.
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The B.C. fires were the worst in 50 years and the devastation is almost impossible to calculate. The agriculture ministry calculates 41 ranches in the Kamloops and Okanagan areas were affected.
In the Kamloops region, 35 ranches reported a total economic impact of $5.09 million, an average of $145,400 per ranch. Losses on six ranches in the Okanagan Valley totalled $760,000 or $126,800 per operation. These figures do not include losses on crown grazing lands.
About 200 head of livestock were believed lost. Most died from smoke inhalation and suffocation when fire sucked away available oxygen.
Privately owned timber losses were valued at about $1.82 million. Typically ranchers rely on timber sales to augment their incomes. Not only did they lose revenue for 2003 but future income is gone because the trees are either burned or removed by clear cutting for salvage value.
Disaster relief has come from a number of sources.
The federal government provided $268,000 for fence reconstruction.
The provincial forestry ministry provided $3.5 million to replace destroyed crown range fencing and for natural range barriers and range seeding. About $2 million went to the Kamloops area.
The privately run North Thompson Relief Fund accepted applications for aid to rebuild lost structures. Agriculture operations were eligible for a maximum of $10,000 through a provincial hardship grant, regardless of size.
“Those who were most impacted still suffered significant loss above that $10,000,” Strachan said.
Funding requests were often rejected because fire related losses were considered insurable and not eligible for disaster relief.
In co-operation with the Thompson Nicola Regional District, the local community futures development corporation found money through agencies such as the Western Economic Diversification program to train and hire crews to remove burned posts, barbed wire and staples. This summer crews are rebuilding about 140 kilometres of fences.
About 500 tonnes of donated hay came from Alberta and were distributed among applicants. For many, that was enough to keep them going through winter and a dry spring grazing season.
However, forage shortages continue to be a major problem. Grass regrowth is slow because of lingering drought and poor snow cover. Late May showers restored some grass but many expect full range recovery to take three to five years.
Water shortages are another worry.
“The ground water levels are at their historically lowest levels ever,” Strachan said.
