Ktunaxa First Nation has launched three major projects in East Kootenay to help protect the land from wildfire and restore ecosystem diversity. Ktunaxa Nation Council and the communities of ʔaq̓am and ʔakisq̓nuk are undertaking prescribed burns to help protect against wildfire. Two burns are planned for the ʔaq̓am area in 2026 on the community’s Kootenay IR#1 lands, near the Canadian Rockies International Airport and on Crown land to the north of Cranbrook. The community is partnering with the City of Cranbrook and B.C Wildfire Service to thin dense sections of forest to create new habitat, and remove dense woodland material on the forest floor that serves as fuel for rapidly spreading fires… The forest is going to be thinned to help protect nearby communities and culturally and archaeologically important sites from wildfire and help special wildlife and plant species like Rocky Mountain big horn sheep and woodland strawberry, thrive.