Whereas wildfires have plagued much of British Columbias Interior this summer, and will continue to threaten communities, particularly with predicted climate change; And whereas forest restrictions continue to hamper fire mitigation efforts: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM support lobbying the provincial government to support and implement changes to its wildfire mitigation practices that allow for increased spacing of fibre stands, prescribed burning, larger fuel breaks around residential communities, and other methods to lessen the provincial landscapes susceptibility to mega-fires and better protect our citizens and assets from this growing threat.
Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development The BC Wildfire Service works closely with land managers on a variety of fuel management activities to reduce wildfire risks, including the use of prescribed fire, thinning, pruning and the mechanical removal of surface fuels. The Province recognizes that fuel treatments wont stop the spread of all wildfires rather, they modify fire behavior to assist fire suppression andor control. Considerable fire management planning has been done in the CaribooChilcotin, even before the 2017 and 2018 fire seasons. Many opportunities for fuel break locations have been identified and are currently under development in the Cariboo region and throughout B.C., with support from the Strategic Wildfire Prevention Initiative, the Community Resiliency Investment program, and the Forest Enhancement Society of B.C. The Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development is leading an integrated stewardship strategy to address the topics of fire-resilient stands and species placement, and continues to look at ways to revise legislation to assist with ecosystem resiliency. The B.C. government is reviewing current legislation, regulations and policies related to prescribed fires and resource management open fires. This review will also consider local and traditional Indigenous knowledge.