By Luke Faulks, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Pique Newsmagazine When Jessica Shoubridge and her family moved to Gun Lake, she imagined a future rooted in the area’s natural beauty. She envisioned her commercially zoned property one day hosting an eco-tourism venture built around the lake and featuring a west-facing view of the hillside. Then, the 2023 Downton Lake Wildfire ripped through the Bridge River Valley, burning up nearly 10,000 hectares, destroying 43 properties and exposing Shoubridge to a network of logging access roads previously under tree cover. Now, two years after the fire, Shoubridge says she has watched the forest recover naturally. “The natural regeneration that’s happened in the last two years has been remarkable,” she said. “We’re like, “It’s going to be OK, it’s starting to look good now….
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