N.B. restricts some forestry operations amid high wildfire risk

New Brunswick has introduced some restrictions on forests due to wildfire risks.

The New Brunswick government has placed restrictions on some forestry operations due to the high risk of wildfires in the province.

The following operations are restricted as of midnight Friday:

• harvesting
• forwarding
• skidding
• scarification
• chipping
• all pre-commercial thinning and cleaning

The following operations are permitted:

• trucking
• road construction
• maintenance
• vegetation management
• tree planting

The restrictions are in place until 11:59 p.m. Tuesday and apply to all forested lands in the province.

“Given the current high-risk situation, we are restricting some forestry operations on both Crown and private land,” said Natural Resources Minister John Herron in a provincial news release.

“These measures will help protect our forests, animals, natural habitats and our communities, as well as our wildland fire crews. I encourage everyone to take extreme precautions over the coming days and stay out of the forests if at all possible.”

The province says conditions and fire risk continue to be monitored and further restrictions may be needed.

Meanwhile, a wildfire in a rural area north of Miramichi has grown to about 40 hectares.

A burn ban remains in place for the entire province, including all provincial parks.

Roger Collet, a wildfire prevention officer with New Brunswick’s Department of Natural Resources, says people are encouraged to avoid activities in the woods over the next several days or until there’s a good rainfall.

Collet says the province isn’t officially restricting activities in the woods at this time, contrary to what officials in Nova Scotia ordered earlier this week.

“Nova Scotia is in a bit of a different situation than we are right now,” says Collet. “Their conditions have been going on a lot longer than ours.”

Information on wildfire risks and burn bans is available online.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Nick Moore

For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.