North Shuswap Fuel Management Prescriptions

The north Shuswap has experienced ingress of cedar due to land disturbance and historical fires. The present-day fire exclusion from the landscape has resulted in the accumulation of forest fuels and increased wildfire hazard.

Four fuel management prescriptions were developed to protect three communities — Lee Creek, St. Ives, and Celista. Additionally, the contract included a partnership with BC parks and a prescription was developed for Shuswap Lake Provincial Park. The original planned area for prescription was over 300 hectares.

The prescriptions developed for the communities and Shuswap Lake Park outline specific objectives for forest fuel management. The intent of these fuel management prescriptions is to reduce the intensity of wildfire and increase safety for suppression crews. Through the removal of ladder fuels, reduction of surface fuels, and tree spacing wildfire behavior can be modified. The result is a fire-resilient forested landscape that will generate a lower intensity surface fire and prevent intense crown fire behavior.  Additionally, these prescriptions also considered ecological values, including mule deer winter range, fisher habitat values. In Shuswap Lake Provincial Park, First Nations’ use and occupation were an important consideration as there were cultural heritage and archaeological features identified within the park. Within the Park there are kekuli, semi-subterranean pit houses, that were used by Secwepemc People.

Terrain constraints due to steep slopes, terrain instability, and limited access presented a significant challenge to the planning and design of the final treatment areas. As a result, the areas for prescription were substantially reduced and many of the treatment areas were limited to hand treatment. Hand treatments are costly — as such the size of each treatment unit was considered and weighed against wildfire risk. Much of the remaining areas not suitable for hand treatment were planned for future prescribed burning.