Citing public safety concerns, the B.C. government is starting to permanently close off a forest service road (FSR) near Trout Lake that accesses homes and runs up the Incomappleux River toward Glacier National Park. Property owners, backcountry users, industry and environmentalists have voiced outrage over the province’s plans, describing lack of meaningful consultation and a strong rationale for the road to remain accessible. …The province has taken issue with the Incomappleux FSR due to hazardous events such as a rockfall in 2006 that damaged the structural integrity of a crevice bridge, prompting Ministry of Forests engineers to recommend closure. It’s said funds aren’t available to maintain the road, which has officially closed off since 2005, gated since 2017, and slated for deactivation since 2021. …If the province proceeds with deactivation, no alternative access exists for some 140 parcels and 28 landowners along a 13-kilometre stretch between the closure and farther up the Incomappleux Valley.

Smoke continues to linger over much of Southern B.C. Sunday. Environment Canada’s air quality warnings remain in place for a large portion of the region, including the Thompson-Okanagan. While most of the area is under a “yellow” warning, the South Okanagan and Fraser Canyon regions are under the more severe “orange” warning. Multiple wildfires are actively burning in and around B.C.’s Southern Interior and putting up plenty of smoke, including the Bald Range fire in Summerland and the Ainslie Creek fire in the Fraser Canyon, along with several fires south of the border. Environment Canada warns that the elderly and very young, people with lung or heart conditions, and people who are pregnant should reduce their time spent outdoors during smoky conditions. No air quality warnings are in place for the Metro Vancouver area or the East Kootenays. Smoky conditions are forecast to persist through Monday.