Abstract
The status quo approach of addressing wildfire threat in British Columbia is not working. In 2017, wildfires overwhelmed suppression capabilities, burned 1.2 million hectares, and cost $568 million for suppression and immediate rehabilitation. From 2003 to 2017, the Provincial government spent $3.1 billion on direct fire suppression, but only $73.8 million on proactive fuels mitigation in the wildland-urban interface. A holistic, landscape view of this problem and transformative changes to wildfire and forest management are urgently needed to achieve forest and community resilience to wildfires. We propose a four-part approach to improve forest and community resilience in British Columbia: (1) increase resources for initial attack and emergency fuel reduction treatments; (2) integrate wildland-urban interface zoning and proactive landscape planning; (3) prioritize forest restoration and adaptive forest management; and (4) invest in research to inform adaptive wildfire management. Our recommendations aim to transform policies and practices to improve ecological and social resilience to wildfire. We contributed written and oral submissions to the 2018 Provincial Flood and Fire Review. The resulting report includes 108 recommendations, 44 of which are consistent with changes we proposed. Through advocacy based on our applied research, we are working toward implementation of transformative change to wildfire management in British Columbia.
Parent Publication
Keywords
adaptive management,
forest restoration,
fuel mitigation,
fuel reduction,
landscape planning,
wildland-urban interface,
wildfire management
Citation
Daniels, Lori D.; Gray, Robert W.; Burton, Philip J. 2020. 2017 megafires in British Columbia: Urgent need to adapt and improve resilience to wildfire. In: Hood, Sharon M.; Drury, Stacy; Steelman, Toddi; Steffens, Ron, [eds.]. Proceedings of the Fire Continuum-Preparing for the future of wildland fire; 2018 May 21-24; Missoula, MT. Proceedings RMRS-P-78. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 51-62.
