Whereas wildfire is identified as a significant risk to many communities in British Columbia; And whereas the current Strategic Wildfire Prevention Initiative places the responsibility for both wildfire prevention and forest management on Crown land onto local governments and First Nations, who do not have jurisdiction on Crown lands or staff with forestry expertise, resulting in a program that demands excessive staff time to administer and creates unnecessary liability for the local government or First Nation: Therefore be it resolved that the Province of BC be requested to develop a more efficient and effective model to address the interface wildfire risk reduction needs of BC communities under the supervision of the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations.
Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations Rural Development The Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations and Rural Development will be reviewing what happened this past wildfire season, and looking for opportunities for improvement. We recognize that more needs to be done in terms of reducing wildfire risk around communities. Local governments also have a role to play in promoting FireSmart bylawsespecially if urban settlement and new subdivisions are expanding into forested areas. The Province is committed to wildfire protection, and has supported the development of two community funding programs, the Strategic Wildfire Protection Initiative SWPI and the Forest Enhancement Society, to provide funding for wildfire mitigation activities. Government established the Forest Enhancement Society of BC in 2015, an entity whose mandate includes specific measures to reduce wildfire risk on Crown land. The SWPI FireSmart Planning grant program, administered by the Union of BC Municipalities, provides funding to local governments and First Nations, including residents and community groups to undertake FireSmart planning activities. In light of the unprecedented fire season this year, the Province will be conducting broad reviews of wildfire activities and this will include a review of wildfire prevention activities and opportunities such as the Strategic Wildfire Prevention Initiative.