Grande Prairie City Council has approved applying for Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta Grants for the 2025 wildfire season.
Last February, the city was awarded a $200K FRIAA grant to reduce wildfire risk for the city, specifically in the South Bear Creek corridor, while supporting the city’s Vegetation Management Project.
“We’ve been successful in the past with this grant, and we’re confident that it’ll get us to the next layers of vegetation mitigation,” Deputy Mayor Wade Pilat says.
As the Deputy Mayor suggests, it is likely that if the city receives a “Phase Two” FRIAA grant, the funding will be used for vegetation management; however, this time, further into the Bear Creek Corridor.
“The area that’s been identified is the water treatment plant, but there are other areas that have been identified and our fire department continually works on that with us to try to identify areas that they think we would need future breaks,” Pilat says.
Pilat adds that City Administration, along with the Parks Department, and the Fire Department will continue to monitor any problem areas throughout the wildfire season.