• Local Journalism Initiative

    Alberta imposes fire restriction as officials urge collective action to mitigate risk

    A province-wide fire restriction has been put in place. All outdoor fires are now prohibited on public lands, including backcountry and random camping areas, excluding Calgary’s forest protection zone. While there have been evacuation alerts to two Alberta communities this past week, no wildfires are classified as out of control as of the April 24 provincial weekly update. “Alberta continues to experience higher than normal wildfire risk and activity for this time of the year,” said Minister of

  • Local Journalism Initiative

    Residents removing debris from yards on FireSmart Day

    A wildfire bearing down on the community is not the time to be raking your leaves or filling your vehicle up with gas. This Saturday is a much better time to get you and your property prepared. “It is inevitable that we are going to get wildland fires. The conditions are there. It’s been proven year after year, but it’s not hopeless,” said Greg van Tighem, FireSmart co-ordinator for the Municipality of Jasper. “A lot of people when they think about it, they see these big fires and they think, ‘O

  • PA Media: Science

    Extinct giant salmon ‘used tusk-like tooth for fighting and not catching prey’

    These fish were not gentle giants, researchers say.