Taryn Skalbania

A Peachland environmental activist says logging companies use fire mitigation for profit while continuing practices that make fires worse as the industry struggles. Taryn Skalbania is the co-founder of the Peachland Watershed Protection Alliance, and she said the logging industry’s participation in fire mitigation is more about profit than reducing the impact of wildfires. “The minute you’re going in with machines and pulling out trees and pretending to be firescaping, what you’re doing is logging. It’s just a Trojan horse and it’s a cash grab,” she said. The BC Wildfire Service said working with the logging and forestry sector is an essential part of fire mitigation. “Working with the forest sector is one of the most effective ways to tackle wildfire risk to BC communities at scale. Building wildfire resilience in BC would not, and will not, be possible without working with the sector as a partner,” the wildfire service said.