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| "Save the Date" CC-BY 2.0 by wuestenigel |
When: Saturday July 25, 2026 9:00am - 2:00pm
Participating households
TNRD FireSmart™ free chipping day events support rural property owners in reducing wildfire fuels on their property by clearing out brush, branches, deadfall and trimmings.
May 27 and 28, 2026: Lac Le Jeune/ Walloper Lake
1. Welcome and introduction
2. Approval of the AGM minutes of September 29, 2024
3. Treasurer's Report
4. Current projects and funding
5. FireSmart update
6. Water Monitoring Project (view data)
7. Membership fees
8. Upper Subdivision representative
9. New business
Please add the AGM to your calendar!
Access the meeting:
Start trimming! Your brush, branches, deadfall and trimmings will be hauled away for free!
TNRD FireSmart™ free chipping day events support rural property owners in reducing wildfire fuels on their property.
WHEN: June 16, 2025
INSTRUCTIONS:
TNRD FireSmart Program
Tel.: 250-377-6326
Email: firesmart@tnrd.ca
June 7th, 4:30 - 6:00pm
Lac Le Jeune Provincial Park Day Shelter
Lac Le Jeune Conservation Society Wildfire Planning Meeting
June 8, 2024 Start Time: 10:00 AM
Location: Lac Le Jeune Campsite Amenity Building
Headcount: 24 people in attendance
-If you have wood waste but don’t have the capability to haul it to the site, Dean and
Clay are willing to assist with their equipment and expertise for fair reimbursement.
-If you would like to have ladder material and excess wood material removed from your
property Dean and Clay are trained tree fallers and arborists and have offered to assist,
again, for fair remuneration.
2. Fire Crew/Brigade Training: (Dean RedKnap). Dean has organized training for volunteers
interested in joining a Lac Le Jeune Coordinated Community Fire Brigade. As of June 8
there were 14 people signed up for the two day training sessions. The course will will be
offered June 22 and 23 at Lac Le Jeune Resort. There is still room for more volunteers.
Contact Dean at the phone number above if you are interested. The volunteers will work
together to provide a rapid response to wildfire in our immediate area. They will also be
available to sign on with WildfireBC as a ‘stat hire’ if needed.
- Corinne Shock asked if the volunteers would be required to own their own safety
equipment. The answer was affirmative, so the Society will look at ways to access
funds to assist volunteers with purchasing PPE, fire protective clothing etc.
3. FireSmarting Lac Le Jeune Private Property: (Dean/Clay). Clay thanked the 14 volunteers willing to sign up for the Community Fire Brigade. In interest of keeping our properties FireSmart he reminded us to:
-Ensure that our gutters are clear of leaves, needles and debris.
-Take care that your trees have ladder material (branches, needles) removed up to 3
meters from the ground.
-Vegetation (lawns, shrubs) should be kept trimmed through the summer months,
particularly within 10 meters of your home.
-If you are leaving home for a few days in the summer then put away your flammable
welcome mats, market umbrellas, and lawn chair cushions.
-If there is danger of a wildfire in our vicinity then move firewood away from your home,
or cover it with fireproof blankets.
Steve Banish stated that insurers are demanding that fire resistant materials be used in new construction.
Dean reminded residents of the Subdivision that there are no ‘fire hydrants’ in the area. The standing pipes located by each residential lot are “flushing stands”, and they are not designed for providing water in the case of a wildfire. If residents want to access water to assist in fire suppression, then they need to access water from the Lake, or nearby ponds by use of pumps, hoses etc.
- Pete Banman asked where we could access funding to assist in purchasing fire
suppression equipment, and what would the cost per home be for the necessary
pumps, hoses etc.
-Corinne Shock mentioned that we could apply for grants form the TNRD.
-Clay suggested that we re-look at generating lists of: equipment already on hand, and
what equipment would be useful for a typical property, and where it can be purchased.
-Chris Wingenbach of Little Lac Le Jeune requested that we (The Society?) generate an
inventory list of fire suppression equipment we already have in the community.
4. Should We be Working to Become a FireSmart Community?
Clay stated that gaining a FireSmart Community designation is a lot of work, and the current outcomes are a $500 grant and a plaque.
Gwen Hetherington, who works in Wildfire management, said that FireSmart Communities are given a higher priority when tough choices have to be made due to large numbers of fires in the Province.
Bruce Mitchell, former chair of the LLJ FireSmart committee, stated that our FireSmart Community Plan was rejected because the FireSmart program is now focused on designating individual neighborhoods as FireSmart, not a distributed community like Lac Le Jeune.
5. Gwen Hetherington: Ministry of Forests:
Gwen has recently transferred to the Thompson River District (TRD) and is responsible for working with Wildfire BC in our area. She is also a Lac Le Jeune resident. The TRD has a budget of 1.3 million dollars to cover an area from Kamloops to Clearwater. A study by Foresite in 2020 identified 11 priority areas around, and in, Lac Le Jeune for spacing and ladder material removal. Some of the priority areas may have marketable timber so the TRD has approached BC Timber Sales to see if there is interest in some harvesting. The 11 areas include: blocks west of the old Ski Hill, a section along Gus Johnson Trail, areas north of Little Lac Le Jeune and a few blocks by Walloper Lk.
-Steve Banish asked about whether we could access Gus Johnson for firewood
collection due to the massive amount of deadfall.
- Gwen responded that the area is part of BC Parks so it is not a simple answer. If
access was to be granted, it would be for a short time period.
-Corinne Shock added that the overgrown areas along our access road will be
addressed this summer.
-Jim Crawchuck asked Gwen to add the area north of the LLJ subdivision, and south of
the lake as a priority.
-Perry Wingenbach requested that the area west of Little Lac Le Jeune be added as
another priority.
-Gwen responded that wood removal on the Guichon Creek watershed (Meadow Creek)
is restricted due to a diminished water table.
-Tania Koester asked about removing deadfall between her home and Little LLJ.
-Gwen responded that activity in the riparian area adjacent to the lake is not permitted.
Removal of deadfall in non-riparian zones is permitted only with a firewood licence.
Meeting adjourned at 11:30
Minutes recorded by Bruce Mitchell, vice chair LLJ Conservation Society
Lac Le Jeune Conservation Association
Annual General Meeting Agenda
Sunday, March 31, 2024 1:00pm
Zoom
Notice: Lac Le Jeune Community Meeting
The Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD), in partnership with the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS), will be hosting a public meeting for residents of Lac Le Jeune on the evening of Thursday, August 10, 2023.
As the main purpose of this meeting, BCWS staff will provide a presentation on upcoming planned suppression activities on the Ross Moore Lake wildfire, including planned ignitions on the southwest flank to eliminate fuel from within the fire’s perimeter.
Staff from the BCWS and the TNRD Emergency Operations Centre will be in attendance and will be able to answer questions from residents.
When: Thursday, August 10, 2023, 6:30 pm
Where: Lac Le Jeune Nature Resort, 5665 Lac Le Jeune Rd
For residents who cannot attend in person, a link to attend the meeting virtually can be provided upon request. If you plan to attend virtually, please email eoccommunications@tnrd.ca. To reduce bandwidth on the livestream, residents who are attending virtually are asked to make sure that their camera is turned off. Please also make sure that your microphone is muted unless you are about to ask a question and are called upon.
For updates about wildfire activity, including the Ross Moore Lake Wildfire, please continue to visit the BC Wildfire Service Wildfires Map.
For more information on emergency notices within the TNRD, and to access the interactive Emergency Map, visit: tnrd.ca/emergency.
Contact:
Emergency Operations Centre
Thompson-Nicola Regional District
Tel.: 250-377-7188
emergency@tnrd.ca
Lac Le Jeune Conservation Association
Annual General Meeting
September 18, 2022
Meeting called to order 10:19 am
Minutes adopted from 2021 AGM. Moved by Howie and Seconded by Colleen.
Colleen Kennedy presented the update in regards to the lake monitoring. It was difficult to do the monthly secchi tests as the equipment had issues this year, however, the group was able to do the testing on a regular basis and submit the results to the BCLSS. Monitoring both the big lake and small lake is extremely important data and volunteers are always needed. Lake monitoring is performs ten months of the year. The hope is there are enough volunteers that a person would only have to use the equipment once. Please contact Colleen Kennedy or Cindy Swain if you are interested in volunteering.
Bruce Mitchell updated the attendees in regards to the progress of the Fire Smart committee. This group has made excellent progress considering they have been actively for barely a year. Some TNRD funding was secured. Their information and progress is available on the LLJ blog. Much can be learned from the blog. Ultimately, their goals is to secure more funding, possibly for equipment to be situated in LLJ, and for LLJ to become a Fire Smart recognized community. Individual residents are encouraged to take the steps to recognize what they can do on their own properties. There are several members of the committee that can do individual property assessments as well. Work will continue with a full plan required to secure larger funding opportunities which is approx 1-2 years down the road. Requirements for being considered a Fire Smart community include a plan and assessment.
Dean Rednap was in attendance and has been working with the owner of the former ski hill regarding the logging and fire mitigation project that has been ongoing this year. The owner has agreed to have citizens of LLJ bring their tree waste to the ski hill site this year. That information will be posted on the blog. The logging has been completed at the ski hill for this year and the ground clearing/chipping will continue. The Min of Forests had done some chainsaw training off Lookout Road. It hadn’t completed as of yet but was in the effort of cleaning up the fire break in that area.
Having several members of our community that have a background in logging and forestry is a great help in moving towards the Fire Smart goal. The Forest Service presentation we had last year at the AGM was quite informative. It is understood that the objectives of the Forest Serive is to protect structures, first and foremost. They have an intricate deployment strategy, utilizing their equipment and resources. There was an issue in 2021 that equipment, ex hoses and bladders, that were not available. That may be something that LLJ fund raise to have available on site here in the community. Discussion turned to the removal of large trees on properties. Presently Pine Valley Tree Service in Kamloops charge $3,500 per day for a crew. Perhaps that is an option to remove larger trees in our community. Hydro will also cut down trees that are under their lines and can be contacted directly for that service.
Volunteers for the Fire Smart committee are required for Walloper and little LLJ. If anyone is interested in helping the committee, please contact Bruce Mitchell directly.
Treasurer’s Report:
Financial Report moved by Jack and Seconded by Bruce. It was agreed that we would request the GIC mature this year and not automatically roll over. Cindy suggested we also change banks from TD to CIBC where Cindy works. In the past, it has been difficult in getting new signing officers recognized by TD and they charge for activity in the account such as writing cheques and making cash deposits. Cindy will speak with a colleague at CIBC and advise the executive committee on her findings regarding switching banks.
BC Bats Society contacted LLJCA and asked that citizens of LLJ please report the bats on your property to them via their web site: www.bcbats.ca. There’s a great deal of information on their site and residence are encouraged to install bat houses on their property and encourage bats to roost.
Election for the executive committee was held and the following members were voted in:
Corinne Schock – President
Bruce Mitchell – Vice President
Cindy Swain – Secretary/Treasurer
Area reps were elected/confirmed:
Upper Subdivision: Howie
Lower Subdivision: Clay
Lookout: Sylvia
Townsite: Jackie/Pat
Big Lake: Anna
Meeting adjourned 11:43
Minutes prepared by Cindy Swain
