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Wildfire Response and Recovery BC Parks Wildfire Management
The number one priority of wildfire management is public safety within all public lands, including the provincial park and protected area lands, that the Ministry of Environment manages on behalf of British Columbians. Several parks are closed or partially closed due to safety issues (click here to view list). These parks will reopen as soon as they have been assessed and actions required to address public safety have been completed. Once follow-up actions have been completed, portions of parks may be opened.
Q: Why are we hearing so much more about forest fuels now? Over the past century the government has engaged in forest fire suppression to protect communities and industry. As communities grew, and more time passed since the last fire, the risks and potential consequences also grew. Over the last decade, knowledge of fire risks associated with increasing fuels in provincial forests has been increasing. It is now understood that decades of fire suppression have resulted in significant increases in fuel loads and forest in-growth. Science-based research into fire behaviour, risk reduction, and fire management has resulted in a substantial basis for the development of fire management plans and fuel reduction strategies for many parks. BC Parks, in cooperation with the MoF, has undertaken a variety of management actions based on these plans. Examples include prescribed burning in Kalamalka Lake Park and tree removals in Wasa Lake Park and Kikomun Creek Park. A new policy has recently been approved which would allow BC Parks to conduct tree removals in support of prescribed burning, fuel reduction or forest health activities. BC Parks has implemented several prescribed burning and tree removal projects in parks throughout the province. These include tree removal in Silver Star and E.C. Manning, tree removal and prescribed fire in Churn Creek, and prescribed fire in Mt. Robson. Q: Does BC Parks have a “let-burn” policy? It is a common misconception that BC Parks has a “let burn” policy. In fact, park wildfires are often suppressed. Park wildfires receive a wildfire analysis from a Ministry of Forests fire management professional and control actions are undertaken to protect park or adjacent values. Since park wildfires often occur in remote areas, control actions may be limited by lack of access or concerns for wildfire fighter safety. In extremely remote areas of some very large parks where there is no identified hazard to park or adjacent values, a wildfire may be allowed to burn naturally while being monitored. There are ecological benefits from maintaining natural disturbance patterns such as those resulting from fire. To view the BC Parks wildfire management policy click here. Q: Does BC Parks coordinate its fire-fighting efforts with the Ministry of Forests? Coordination with the Protection Branch of Ministry of Forests has always been an essential element of the fire response of BC Parks. Under the Wildfire Act, all fire suppression activities within parks and protected areas are carried out under the authority of the Ministry of Forests (MOF). In addition to the legislated mandates, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between MOF and BC Parks helps define roles and responsibilities around fires.
Q: How are wildfires fought in protected areas? When a wildfire is spotted in a protected area, the fire is immediately reported to the regional MoF Fire Control Centre. If there are BC Parks staff in the area, they may respond to the fire according to the Park Fire Response Plan. MoF fire protection staff also have a copy of the Fire Response Plan and they are immediately dispatched to the fire site. A wildfire analysis is then conducted by professional MoF fire management staff. This analysis details the fuel conditions, wildfire threat, potential fire spread and public and private values that may be affected by the fire. Based on the wildfire analysis, the MoF and BC Parks then decide how best to manage the fire to protect human safety, private property and park facilities and other values. All wildfire fighting activities in parks are managed by regional MoF Fire Control Centres. To help with wildfire suppression efforts, MoF staff may use municipal fire fighters or other appropriately trained fire fighters such as the military. Q: What is BC Park’s policy for allowing fires to burn in protected areas? BC Parks primary goal is to ensure fires are managed to protect human safety and property. Accordingly, most fires in parks are controlled through initial attack whenever possible. A secondary goal of fire management in parks is to maintain natural ecosystems. Ecologists have recognized that fire can be an important component of healthy forest ecosystems. When fire is excluded from forests and grasslands for long periods of time, flammable debris begins to build up and the risk of a large uncontrollable fire increases. Some wildlife habitat is also lost when dense forest growth covers grasslands. BC Parks recognizes the value of fire to the maintenance of healthy forest and grassland ecosystems and although most park fires are still controlled, some fires which do not threaten adjacent communities, park infrastructure or rare park elements are allowed to burn naturally. By allowing these fires to burn, future high intensity fires can be prevented and wildlife habitats are restored. In some cases, under closely controlled conditions, intentionally set fires, called prescribed fires, are used in parks to emulate natural fires. All fire management in parks is conducted in conjunction with professionally trained MoF fire management staff. Click here to view BC Parks policy regarding wildfire. Q: You mention that fire is part of the ecosystem – why is it important? Fire has been an influence on BC’s ecosystems since the end of the last ice age. Because of fire’s presence, the plants and animals that live in many ecosystems have adapted to environments shaped by fire. These adaptations include seeds that are only released by fire, species that nest in fire damaged trees, and foraging strategies based on the flush of nutrients in recently burned grasses, forbs and shrubs. In some very dry areas, fires have maintained grasslands or open forests that are now the home of many rare species. Suppression of fires leads to loss of habitat for these species. In other places fire suppression leads to a serious build-up of fuels so that when fires do strike they are more difficult to contain and burn hotter. These hot burns can permanently change soil structure and lead to loss of habitat. Where fires are part of the ecosystem, successional pathways are more complex and result in more diverse habitat structure in the forest. This diversity supports a more complex ecosystem and often provides the checks and balances that can prevent wide-spread disease and insect infestations.
Q: What wildfire management plans are in place in provincial parks this summer? BC Parks has two types of plans for fire issues:
There are fire management plans developed for the following 16 provincial parks: Entiako, Strathcona, Syringa, Tweedsmuir North, Junction Sheep Range, Assiniboine, Wasa Lake, Columbia Lake Park, Mt. Robson, Churn Creek, Manning, Okanagan Mountain, Spatsizi, Cathedral, Fintry and Silver Star. Q: Why doesn’t every park have a fire management plan? Fire Management Plans are detailed, specific plans that address a variety of long range fuel and fire management issues within a park. While all parks have fire response plans to guide fire fighting activity, not all parks require fire management plans due to ecosystem characteristics and/or low level of risk. With more than 800 parks and protected areas in the system, fire management plans are undertaken on a priority basis for parks with higher fire risks based on fuel loads, public safety and risk to park facilities or neighbouring communities. Q: Are there any parks with interface fire issues that don’t have fire management plans? Yes. Interface issues associated with protected areas change as urban development approaches park boundaries. An assessment of interface fire risk and parks and protected areas was undertaken in 2005. High risk parks have been identified and are top priority for Fire Management Plans. Q: What is your budget for fuel and fire management and how much has it decreased? BC Parks has never had a specific budget for fuel and fire management. Fire suppression activities have been, and will continue to be, primarily the responsibility of the MoF. Fuel management funding varies from year to year and projects are chosen based on highest risk to people, facilities and conservation values. Funding levels rise and fall depending on other pressures. Q: What steps will the ministry take to restore the areas under its responsibility that have been damaged by fire? When will restoration occur? The ministry will support ecosystem restoration where it is required, for example, to prevent erosion, avoid invasion by non-native species, or remove temporary park accesses that were added to aid in the fire fighting effort. We have staff such as ecosystem specialists study the situation on the ground. The ministry has established a Fire Response Group and one of its objectives is to identify restoration activities that need to be considered.
Q: Wouldn’t logging in parks help control park wildfires? Commercial logging is prohibited in parks and protected areas, however, tree removals may be used to reduce fuels and create fire breaks in park wildland urban interface situations. Tree removals can be used to reduce fuels by removing dead and dying trees, reducing forest ingrowth and removing ground fuels. Fire breaks can be created by thinning standing forests in interface areas so that wildfires are easier to control. In all cases, tree removals are conducted to a higher standard than commercial logging and affected areas are restored once tree removals are completed. To view the BC Parks Tree Removal Policy, click here. Q: Couldn’t the revenue from logging fire-killed forests be used to pay for restoration of the park? Fires are a natural disturbance agent and the structures they leave behind are important to many species of plants and animals. As an example, Lewis’ woodpeckers are weak excavators and commonly use old fire-killed trees to build their nest cavities. The decrease in natural fires due to fire suppression and salvage of burned areas outside of parks has led to a significant decrease in Lewis’ woodpeckers. They are now on the provincial blue list. Most of the burned areas in parks do not need restoration. Fire is a natural and important event and the ecosystems will restore themselves in a natural progression of succession. Usually restoration is confined to the areas modified by fire-fighting such as fire guards, fire access roads and helicopter landing spots. Logging would require more roads and therefore more restoration. Since tree removals in parks and protected areas are conducted under extremely high environmental standards which require total restoration of all harvesting disturbances the high cost of logging these stands would actually cost more than the value of the wood removed from these areas.
Q: Aren’t fire-killed forests unsafe for recreational activities? Fire-killed forests do present public safety hazards such as unstable trees or areas where roots have burned out. Most parks affected by fires will remain closed until public safety can be assured. Q: Do you intend to begin/increase tree removal from provincial parks as a result of wildfires? Tree removals from provincial parks can be used as a management tool to accomplish fuel reduction and ecosystem restoration objectives in some parks. Tree removals differ from commercial logging in that they are planned to achieve defined conservation or health and safety objectives and they are conducted with a much higher level of ecological sensitivity – revenue generation is not an objective of tree removal projects. Wasa Lake Park, Kalamalka Lake Park and Vaseaux Lake Park are examples of parks where recent tree removal projects or prescribed burns have been conducted to both restore natural habitats and create fuel breaks. There have also been considerable grassland prescribed burns in Kalamalka Lake Park to reduce fuel loading and re-establish grassland areas. Tree removals have not been used extensively in parks for fire control because they have been cost-prohibitive. A recently signed BC Parks policy authorizing tree removal projects in parks will allow for more projects to go ahead. Q: How will you address parks that have high fuel loads? Our approach to high fuel loads depends on risk to human health and safety, the conservation values in the park and the values adjacent to the park. Recent policy clarifies our three basic approaches:
Q: If tree removal takes place as part of fuel removal activity, will the trees be sold and what will happen to the revenues? Tree removal that takes place in parks is only done in the interest of health and safety, fire management, habitat restoration or ecosystem health. Any revenue generated by the sale of trees removed from parks in a tree removal project is used to offset the costs of tree removals and pay for site restoration costs.
Q: Are parks and protected areas destroyed when a fire sweeps through them? Fire is a natural disturbance agent that is important to many ecosystems. Although the appearance of a park after a fire may be startling to those who are familiar with it, the park is definitely not destroyed. Fires can reset the ecological clock to zero, benefiting organisms that depend on early seral stages. Q: Which parks are closed or partially closed to public use? Here is a current list of the Park Closures and Campfire Bans.
Return to Wildfire Response and Recovery
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