The City of Kimberley was recognized at the annual Union of British Columbia Municipalities convention in Whistler this week as one of six B.C. communities that had outstanding achievement in wildfire planning and prevention.

Forest Minister Pat Bell recognized the six municipalities.

?It?s my honour to acknowledge the leadership and commitment demonstrated by our six community wildfire protection planning champions,? said Bell. ?Wildfire preparation and prevention is a partnership. We won?t be successful in protecting people and property unless we work together.?

Recognized communities were selected from each of the province?s six fire centre jurisdictions.

The acknowledged local governments were: District of Logan Lake, Village of Valemount, Cariboo Regional District, Regional District Kitimat-Stikine, City of Kimberley and the Resort Municipality of Whistler.

The province began supplying funding for interface fire work in 2004, and Kimberley was one of the first communities to take advantage of that funding. Since that time the City has addressed a number of fire interface issues. A three part Community Wildfire Protection Plan was implemented.

It began with work on City-owned land. Various lots around the city were treated and thinned to lessen fire risk. These lots included the campground lands, above Levirs Avenue, Taylor Slough and Chapman Camp.

Phase II of the plan involved publicly owned land within the City?s boundaries, such as the Nordic Ski Area and the Nature Park. The Nordic area has been treated, while work is jut getting underway in the Nature Park. Phase III, deals with more detail on the Kimberley Nature Park and also on ecological restoration in conjunction with interface work.

Projects spearheaded by the honourees include a bylaw requiring FireSmart principles in new developments; removing potentially hazardous forest debris for bio-energy production; and using grazing cattle to remove grasses that are highly flammable by mid-summer.

?This type of planning and operational work has proven time and time again to diminish the interface fire risk and make it easier to battle wildfires when they do get close to towns,? said Bell. ?I encourage local governments and First Nations that haven?t completed plans to take advantage of the program and work with us to keep B.C. residents, communities and our fire crews safe.?