Jasper wildfire: How the forest ecosystem has changed, one year later

The Jasper wildfire left its mark on the Alberta mountain community in more ways than one.

While 30 per cent of the town burned, many hectares of Jasper National Park’s backcountry were damaged by flames.

The fire burned five per cent of the mountain park’s forested land.

The fires broke out on a hot, warm and windy week — a terribly perfect combination to fuel the flames.

“The three fires that started were being pushed by 85 km/h winds, so they grew quite rapidly because we were very dry,” said Landon Shephard, a Parks Canada fire and vegetation specialist.

Parks Canada notes that wildfires allow for ecosystem renewal, allowing species like coniferous trees to regrow and animals to thrive in a new habitat.

“You start to see a different suite of birds using the landscape, you see another different suite of animals and species that like the edge of where fire meets green,” Shephard said.

The fire felled trees, incinerated shrubs and left the mountains looking sparse — a barren, charred landscape.

But look closer and there is beauty to be found.

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Estelle Blanchette, the owner of Jasper Food Tours, started offering a new tour this summer focusing on the natural process of wildfire and regrowth.

Hikers go on a four-kilometre tour of the impacted area, where they can see wildflowers, mushrooms and tree seedlings sprouting.

“Watching it happening live in real time is fascinating; we’re learning every day,” Blanchette said. “It was just black dirt in the fall last year. None of this was there,” she said of the fragile new growth.

There’s a prevailing attitude in Jasper that the carnage can teach lessons to visitors on the impacts of climate change, how forests regenerate through wildfire and how towns can prepare.

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Now, as the community regrows, so does the nature around it.

“It’s like the blanket has been pulled back and you get to see all the special little nooks and crannies that are part of the landscape,” Shephard said.

“Something that nobody has seen in the last century.”

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For more on this story, watch the story by Jasmine King in the video above.

— With files from The Canadian Press