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This report is a summary of several administrative documents dealing specifically
with fuels management. The following list outlines the references, articles and documents
that are used in this report:
- The Forest Act of British Columbia
- The Forest Practices Code Act of British Columbia
- Stand Management Prescription Guidebook
- Spacing Guidebook
- Community Watershed Guidebook
- Green up Guidebook
- Policy 2.6
- Policy 9.2
- Task team report.
Management of forest fuels is an important tool for use in the maintenance of
forest resources in the province. This report enables protection officers and other forest
managers access to a brief introduction to fuels management and its role in government
policy and regulations in British Columbia.
Introduction
Background
The program issue of a resent task team report, dealing with fuels management as
an ecosystem restoration tool, is to prepare a fuels management process which is cost
effective and efficient. To provide and supply the necessary training to land managers and
stake holders to enable them to complete the fuels management objectives. To introduce
ecosystem restoration as a tool to achieve the goals as stated by the Kamloops Fire
Center:
The mandate set out for the Wildfire Management Branch is to supply high quality,
timely and contemporary fire management service to land managers as requested. (Thor
Larsen. 1997)
The responsibility of the fire center staff in terms of fuels management is:
- to incorporate ecosystem restoration and fuels management into higher level plans
- to create inventories of forest resources,
- to develop harvesting techniques, prescribed fire, and fuels management, objectives
for each of the areas and include them into operational and higher level plans, and
- to identify any administrative obstacles and assist in the removal of these
obstacles to obtain the objectives.
The responsibility of the district is to use ecosystem restoration and fuels
management to improve the productivity and health of fire maintained forests and
rangelands. These objectives will assist in the restoration of stand structure and species
composition through modern methods such as thinning, harvesting, and prescribed fire. Once
achieved, theses objectives will improve stand vigor, reduce the risk of catastrophic fire
and to restore bunchgrass communities.
Short term goals are to identify specific acts, regulations, guidebooks,
memorandums of understanding, and higher level plans that make reference to the fuels
management process which are used to achieve land management objectives. Short term goals
that will prepare, recommend and provide the necessary direction for the inclusion of
fuels management in higher level plans. The long-term goals are:
- to assist and train land mangers and stakeholders,
- to complete prescribed burning, to recruit coarse woody debris to maintain
biodiversity, and
- to find new funding to achieve fuels management objectives.
Objectives
By request, this report will summarize the documents available to all land
mangers, stakeholders and ministry staff, which involve fuels management. This report will
be used as a tool during presentation and explanation of the importance of fuels
management in British Columbia with specific references to the Kamloops Fire Center.
The information presented will be a discussion of several guidebooks, acts,
regulations, and policies.
As stated in the British Columbia Ministry of Forests Act the purpose and function
of ministry staff is to
- Manage, protect, and conserve the forest and range resources of the
government, having regard to the immediate and long-term economic and social benefits they
may confer on British Columbia.
This means that ministry staff is responsible for the short term and long term
management, protection, and conservation of forest and range resources for economical and
social benefits of British Columbia.
Policy 2.6 – Silviculture Systems
The policy explains that all Silviculture systems must be ecologically sound, be
consistent with higher level plans which include the fuel management plan, and meet
site-specific overall resource management objectives for the area.
Policy 9.2 – Fire Management planning
The plan scope states that fire management plans will include standards and
objectives for the use of fire in land and resource management, which includes but is not
limited to fuel management and smoke management.
Forest Practices Code Act of British Columbia
In section 50. (1)
- The Use of Prescribed Fire states that when carrying out practices under the
act a person must comply with fuels management objectives among other requirements focused
on objectives and operational plans.
In part 3 of the Forest Practices Code Act which is the operational planning
requirements for government and forest and range tenure agreements it outline in section
10(1) c.
- that forest development plans must include the specifications that will be
carried out to protect forest resources.
In division one part 3 of the operational planning regulation regarding forest
development plans section 13 (7) explains that a person must ensure that a forest
development plan describes for the area, under the plan, the fuels management objectives.
Under the act it states in the administrative remedies section that failure to
follow the fuels management objectives laid out in the operational plan will result in a
penalty of $10000.
Amendments to Forest Fire Protection and Suppression Regulations
In a document pertaining to the amendments to the forest fire protection and
suppression regulations, one section of the discussion gives the ministry the ability to
require a person to reduce fire hazard. This reduction is required before the 12-month
period if it is a matter of public safety. Coarse woody debris that may be considered a
fire hazard may be left on site if it is required to meet biodiversity objectives
specified in higher level plans, or operational plans.
Stand Management Prescription Guidebook
Risk of fire can be a concern when spacing and pruning, and should be considered
when developing a stand management prescription, an estimation of the amount of slash and
should be made to gauge the possible hazard.
Spacing Guidebook
In the spacing Guidebook under the section on fire protection, it informs the
forest manager that heavy concentrations of slash can develop after a spacing operation.
This heavy fuel loading will reduce in time by natural processes however the forest
manager must be aware that and attempt to mitigate any heavy fuel loading based on the
objectives in either the stand management prescription and the Silviculture prescription.
The stand management prescription and the Silviculture prescription must accurately
prescribe treatment of the site with consideration of fuel loading and long-term fuels
management in the area.
Community Watershed Guidebook
Section 11.2 of the guidebook explains that fuels management is an essential
component in the prevention of fire. An assessment of fire hazard and fuel loading is
required. This assessment may require fuel abatement by prescribed fire, manually removing
understorey or creating fuel breaks. Using section 7. of the Fire Prevention and
Suppression Regulations, a fire risk assessment and a values at risk assessment will help
to quantify the fuels present in all modified and natural stands which will assist in the
need to modify or manage the problem.
Green-up Guidebook
The fuels management section of this guidebook suggests that wildfire can be
reduced by increasing the green-up height. The increase in green up height will eliminate
direct sunlight and winds on the surface fuels, which will minimize the spread
of wildfire. This will be a useful consideration in green-up areas located in fire
dependant ecosystems.
Fuels management is an important part of the management of forest and range
resources, the reduction of fire hazard will aid in the maintenance of healthy vigorous
stands and will contribute in the reduction in the risk of catastrophic fire.
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