Parks Canada officials and politicians are defending how the federal agency fights wildfire risk after a blaze damaged one-third of the townsite in Jasper National Park.
Critics have said more should have been done to thin out forests thick with highly flammable dead trees, especially those killed by mountain pine beetle infestation.
But Parks Canada CEO Ron Hallman says the agency has been conducting prescribed burns in the park since 1996 and that Jasper was one of the first communities in Canada to institute a FireSmart program.
He says hundreds of square kilometres of forest was affected by beetle kills and that it simply wasn’t possible to remove them all.
He says Parks Canada does everything it can to protect human lives and property in parks and considers them its top priority.
His remarks were echoed by federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault and Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland.
Mr. Guilbeault says that although the fire continues to burn, flames in the townsite have been extinguished.
He says officials are beginning to plan for a staged re-entry of the town’s evacuated residents, although there is no timeline for that.
About 5,000 residents and 20,000 visitors in the park were ordered to evacuate on July 22.
