John Davies

Dragon Mountain Provincial Park is a forested hump south of Quesnel, with a gravel road to its summit and 600 metres of descending mountain bike trails through rocks, chutes and mature forest. …But where mountain bikers see a playground, wildfire experts see the makings of a disaster waiting to happen… “If there’s a forest fire on Dragon Mountain it would burn the whole thing,” said John Davies, a registered professional forester. “Viewpoints, mountain bike trails, ungulate habitat, the forest — everything would be gone.” Davies is a mountain biker and appreciates the riding potential. But he has also spent 25 years fighting fires… Today he works for Forsite, a forestry consultancy that develops wildfire protection and risk reduction plans for cities and parks across the province, including for Dragon Mountain. …“We have to make sure the value will exist after a fire,” Davies said. “That requires removing trees. There’s no other way to do it.”