Can you help wild spaces thrive and protect your property from wildfires?

As forest fires become more common, how can you help wild spaces at the lake thrive and protect your cottage? It’s an environmental conundrum

Ray Ford

ATTEND ENOUGH LAKE association meetings, and sooner or later, you’ll hear contradictory advice. One well-meaning speaker (in a fleece vest) wants to safeguard water quality, so idle the lawn mower, leave fallen trees and limbs, and maintain a diverse tangle of waterfront foliage. Cue the slide show of a cottage nestled in the woods, with loons gliding past the dock. Another equally well-meaning presenter (in a blue or tan uniform) touts advice from FireSmart, a program founded in 1993 that helps owners increase their property’s resilience to wildfire. Mow the lawn, pick up branches, thin surrounding evergreens. Click. Up comes a slide of a tidy yellow cabin on a manicured lawn, with trees that are well-spaced. After taking in a FireSmart presentation, Bracebridge, Ont., resident and Muskoka Watershed Council member…

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Cottage Life (Digital) - 1 Issue, Winter 2024

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