British Columbiasa国际传媒檚 Eby government has vigorously addressed two of the top issues facing the country. It has gone further and faster than any other provincial government to stimulate housing construction, and has most aggressively incentivized primary care providers and addressed other healthcare issues.
In that context, it is disappointing that the B.C. government has been so slow to proactively reduce wildfire risk, particularly given B.C.sa国际传媒檚 extreme susceptibility to and loss from such fires. Measures to minimize wildfire risks have been identified and urged on governments for two decades or longer.
The benefit of such measures is becoming more apparent as wildfires proliferate. A prescribed burn sa国际传媒� a fire set to lessen wildfire risk sa国际传媒� was conducted in Aqsa国际传媒檃m, a first nations community near Cranbrook in April of 2023. Ivan Semeniuk, in the Globe and Mail, recently described the burn along with the St. Mary River wildfire in the same community just a few months later.
sa国际传媒淭he contrast between the areas burned in the wildfire and those included in the prescribed burn was stark,sa国际传媒� Semeniuk wrote. sa国际传媒淚n the wildfire areas, platoons of blackened trees stood in grim formation. The ground underfoot was black, caked in soil that left a greasy smudge when rubbed between the fingertips. sa国际传媒� In the prescribed burn area, pines had scorch marks on their trunks, but were alive. Bunchgrass and bitterbush, a shrub favoured by foraging elk, were pushing up around the treesa国际传媒檚 feet.sa国际传媒�
The director of fire and emergency services in Cranbrook, Scot Driver, said he was sa国际传媒渁bsolutely convincedsa国际传媒� that the prescribed burn prevented the wildfire from spreading to the airport and communities beyond.
Modern fire suppression measures have rendered todaysa国际传媒檚 forests fire-deficient. Yet prescribed burning is minimally utilized in B.C., and is largely applied only in the wildland-urban interface. The Wildfire Service reported conducting 23 prescribed burns in 2023 over a total of 22 square kilometers. Compare that to the total area burned in wildfires in B.C. last year, nearly 30,000 square kilometers, easily a record year.
The budget for wildfire risk reduction, including prescribed burning, is miniscule relative to the amount spent fighting wildfires. The Crownland Wildfire Risk Reduction and the FireSmart Community programs were jointly allocated $230,000 for 2023, but it appears only $40 million of that was allotted to CLWRR. Last fall, the government of B.C. expected wildfire suppression costs to balloon to $1 billion for the year.
The B.C. Forest Practices Board (BCFPB) in a June, 2023 report noted that indirect losses from wildfire sa国际传媒� like loss of timber, damage to watersheds and drinking water, and adverse effects on the tourism sector sa国际传媒� are 2 to 30 times higher than suppression costs. That means indirect costs can be expected to be as much as $30 billion for 2023. Insurance costs related to the wildfires totaled more than $720 million.
Itsa国际传媒檚 clear the provincial government is seriously underfunding risk reduction measures, and that is burdening the government and residents of B.C. with extensively more wildfire destruction and cost. Prescribed burns need to be expanded rapidly within the wildland-urban interface and beyond.
The BCFPB urges the province to adopt Landscape Fire Management (LFM), and defines it as sa国际传媒渁 holistic approach to addressing forest fuel buildup and improving landscape resilience.sa国际传媒� That includes thinning forests, removing deadfall and using prescribed burns, says the Board. sa国际传媒淭here is no short-term fix to the current sa国际传媒榝ire-deficitsa国际传媒� condition of our landscape in BC. LFM is ongoing, from generation to generation, with treatments that require maintenance over time, the use of a broad toolkit, and a sustained commitment.sa国际传媒� However, BCFPB asserts, sa国际传媒渢here is an urgent need to act now to reduce the wildfire risk.sa国际传媒�
The 2024 wildfire season will soon be upon us. Some forecasts suggest 2024 will be even warmer than 2023, the hottest recorded year globally. Snow loads are low in B.C.sa国际传媒檚 mountains, and drought continues to be prevalent throughout much of the province. It is possible wildfire losses will be as large as in 2023.
Every area of B.C. is now exposed to extreme weather and wildfires. Invasive fires destroyed 239 homes in Kelowna in 2003, levelled the village of Lytton in 2021 and laid waste to 189 homes in West Kelowna in 2023. In B.C., vast expanses of forests and grasslands, equivalent to more than half of the area of Nova Scotia, were burned in 2023. In Alberta, wildfire consumed a staggering 2400 homes and structures in Fort MacMurray in 2016.
Effective risk reduction is imperative. The wildfire disasters noted, and others, establish that. Moreover, effective risk reduction is attainable. Aqsa国际传媒檃m establishes that.
sa国际传媒淥n the left was the prescribed fire side sa国际传媒� still green, trees recovering from the prescribed fire, thinner and looking healthy,sa国际传媒� Michelle Shortridge, director of operations for Aqsa国际传媒檃m, told the Globesa国际传媒檚 Semeniuk. sa国际传媒淎nd then to my right was the wildfire sa国际传媒� black, scorched and ashen, much like our 2017 wildfire site whose ecosystem has yet to recover.sa国际传媒�
The B.C. governmentsa国际传媒檚 approach to wildfires and wildfire risk must fundamentally change, urgently, before more, expansive wildlands are irretrievably lost.
bruce
Bruce W Uzelman, based in Kelowna, holds interests in economics and political science.
