By Ian Holmes

Month without rain forces closure of popular trails

Jul 17, 2017 | 5:23 PM

NANAIMO — An elevated fire threat has led to the closure of a pair of popular Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) trails.

A 21 kilometre section of the Trans Canada Trail between the Haslam Creek Suspension Bridge to Harewood Mines Rd. has been shut down. The RDN’s Arrowsmith CPR Regional Trail has also been closed to the public.

Manager of parks services Wendy Marshall does not expect the trails, which access Island Timberlands property, to re-open anytime soon.

“It’s weather dependant and it will remain closed as long as it’s a hot and dry summer, so probably into the fall.”

Marshall said the RDN has a license-use deal in place with Island Timberlands to use the company’s land as part of its trail network. Marshall does not expect any more RDN trails to be closed in the immediate future.

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She said it’s critical that smokers be mindful of where the light up.

“It’s really key that people respect the dryness and the weather and that they’re not smoking, not just in parks, but anywhere in the open and the woods because it is so tinder dry.”

While it’s been a quiet forest fire season in the mid-island area, the BC Wildfire Service has increased the Nanaimo region’s fire danger rating to extreme.

Environment Canada reports it’s been about one month since a measurable amount of rain has fallen in the Nanaimo area.

“We last saw some rain recorded at the Nanaimo Airport on the 18th of June,” Meteorologist Alyssa Charboneau told NanaimoNewsNOW. “There has been a few days (in the last month) where there has been trace amounts of rain in Nanaimo.”

Charboneau said the mid-island region could see a minor rain shower this week. She noted average rainfall for Nanaimo Airport during July is a little more than 25 mm.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes