There are two sides to every story, and there is no exception when it comes to caring for our shoreline properties.
On one side, you’re told keeping shorelines natural is important for lake health, while the other side recommends reducing natural features to lower wildfire risk. It can be difficult to know what to do.
However, it doesn’t have to be just one approach! Incorporating both sides of this story to guide your actions is important for protecting your shoreline property.
To put it simply, the Love Your Lake program focuses on maintaining natural features and having a vegetated buffer along your shoreline – the bigger the better. This helps reduce runoff into your lake, protects against erosion, reduces flood risks and provides important wildlife habitat. But there’s room for the other side – incorporating fire safety measures that can help mitigate risk of wildfires.
For example, keeping the first 1.5 metres surrounding a cottage or building free of combustible materials and keeping firewood piles at least 10 metres from buildings. Clearing gutters and roofs of leaves and debris throughout the year is good policy. So is incorporating fire resistant plants; when selecting trees for your property; remember that hardwood trees generally burn much slower than softwoods. Trimming tree branches found within 10 to 30 metres from the cottage to a height of two metres from the ground and maintaining three metres between the crowns of evergreen trees are also safety measures.
Of course, there are other considerations to keep in mind, including proper pruning to avoid tree damage and pruning at the right time of year to avoid harm to wildlife, especially during nesting season. Most birds, their nests and eggs are protected in Canada. Also, be mindful of local bylaws.
And if you’re near a wetland, even better! They act as a natural firebreak. As weather patterns become increasingly hotter and drier, it’s important to build smarter with more fire-resistant materials and to be careful of our actions. Many wildfires are caused by people and are preventable. Let’s do what we can to protect our shoreline properties from wildfires while also improving the health of our shorelines and lakes. We can do both!