Fuel Management Pilot Project for Agricultural Interface Areas

Prior to this project, there was no process to determine and assess the wildfire risk to agriculture producers in Central BC. While this project’s primary focus was determining the risk to agriculture producers in the Regional Districts of Cariboo, Fraser-Fort George, and Bulkley-Nechako the processes Cabin developed to determine high-risk agriculture wildland interface, and to develop fuel mitigation projects for these areas can be utilized province wide.  

The primary objectives of this project were to identify high-risk agriculture wildland and propose three viable pilot projects for fuel mitigation. High-risk agriculture wildland within the three regional districts was identified through the creation of a geodatabase that incorporated the Provincial Strategic Threat Analysis (PSTA) layer and agricultural structure densities. Once high-risk areas were identified Cabin developed project criteria that would guide the selection of the three pilot areas. Working with the project oversite committee and with regional agrologists, Cabin identified three viable pilots within each regional district. Cabin also undertook the project liaison and outreach with potential partners including timber licensees, woodlot owners, local agrologists, and academic institutions. Cabin undertook cursory prescription planning of each pilot to determine constraints and potential barriers, as well as the economic feasibility. As part of the final report, Cabin developed best management practices for fuel management within the agriculture wildland interface.

Scalability of these pilots was an important project goal, as such the pilots represent a range of circumstances and characteristics including variable sizes ranging from 36.6 ha to 184 ha, different partnerships including large licensees, a woodlot, and private land owners, as well as different stand types and fuel types.