Each year, the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) produces a State of the Mountains report. In 2025 the report focused on the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation. In 2026, it looks at fire.

ACC say “Fire season seems to have replaced summer, especially in the mountains of western Canada. This year the ACC’s State of the Mountains Report revisits fire, with a feature article that explores how two communities in the Rocky Mountains, Jasper and Banff, are facing a future where fire will be a constant, rather than a hypothetical”.

The State of the Mountains Report is a commitment by the ACC to provide accessible, current, and accurate information about the forces that affect Canadian mountain places, ecosystems, and communities.

As in many parts of the world, wild fire is becoming a dominant or defining feature in the mountains of western Canada.

Here in Australia, where uncontrolled bush fires frequently pose a threat to mountain areas and resort towns, there are some good reads in the ACC report, including an interview with the Mayor of Jasper, on Community, Resilience, and Lessons Learned, and an interview with Corrie DiManno, Mayor of Banff, on Preparedness, Education, and Engagement.

The report notes that

‘The reality is that climate change, decades of forest management practices, and other human activities have contributed to increased vulnerability. In 2023, record-breaking fires in Canada burned an estimated 18.5 million hectares, and this was followed by two subsequent years of similarly extreme fire activity. The destructive 2023-2025 fires represent not only the most extreme multi-year fire episode in Canada this century, but also the most severe since records began in the late 1950s’.

 

You can find the 2026 report here.