Workshop aims to help Cariboo ranchers with wildfire recovery

Cariboo ranchers recovering from last summer's devastating wildfires are being given the opportunity to learn about how to rebuild their businesses.

David Pratt, a teacher with the Ranching for Profit School, will be leading a free workshop in Williams Lake, B.C., this weekend, in conjunction with the Cariboo Cattlemen's Association and the federal and provincial governments' Growing Forward 2 program.

"It's an excellent opportunity to help devise some solutions to staying sustainable and recovering from the fires in 2017," said Cordy Cox, president of the Cariboo Cattlemen's Association.

Pratt's two-day workshop on Feb. 3-4 was created to provide producers facing financial struggles as a direct result of the wildfires with ways to help recover their losses. 

• 'From the ashes': Rebuilding after the B.C. wildfires

Cox said the workshop will also address the emotional and mental toll the fires took on ranchers, including PTSD.

As a producer in Kleena Kleene, 240 kilometres west of Williams Lake, Cox knows how ranchers suffered during and after the fires.

She said many lost buildings, fencing, hay production and significant production from cattle, and are also dealing with health issues in livestock from the smoke.

"There's obviously been a huge hit to their bottom line," Cox said. "It's quite far reaching."