BVRC — Future Ecologies Podcast

Future Ecologies

Bulkley Valley Research Centre

With the support of the Bulkley Valley Research Centre, Future Ecologies produced the following 2-part series on forests, wildfire, and fire resiliency.

Part One was released prior to the BVRC’s Conference on Northern Wildfire Resiliency in April 2019. This episode features Chief Maureen Chapman, Dr. Lori Daniels, Tony Pesklevits, and Dr. Paul Hessburg, each keynote speakers at the conference.

This episode focusses on the challenges in the disaster response in 2017 (as identified by the Abbott-Chapman Report), the forest science that has facilitated our current vulnerability to megafires, how we can adapt our forest management practices, and most importantly, bridge our differences and reach co-ownership of the path forward.

Music in this episode was produced by Sunfish Moon Light, Leuocorcuta, PORTBOU, Ben Hamilton, Jonathan Scherk, and Cat Can Do.

Part Two was released in September 2019. This episode features Clint Lambert, Les Husband, Bruce Blackwell, Dr. Sonja Leverkus, and Chief Francis Johnson.

This episode takes a closer look at the experience of wildfire evacuation, the necessity of moving beyond managing for static values, and the practicalities and difficulties of re-introducing prescribed burning as a landscape management tool. Finally, we tour a community that is enthusiastically re-introducing fire to the land.

Music in this episode was produced by Sunfish Moon Light, VALSI, Spencer W Stuart, Jonathan Scherk, and Ben Hamilton.

Ferry landing - Southside of Francois Lake

The only access to Southside is via this ferry

A farm and a timber lot

This farmer on the Southside lost the trees on his property during the 2018 fire

Post-burn landscape

Purple fireweed blossoms paint the hillsides where the fire burned last year.

Adam and Clint Lambert

Clint is the Director of Burns Lake Regional District E. He gave us a tour of Southside, and told us about the experiences of the non-evacuees and the efforts to save Takysie.

Adam and Clint Lambert

Clint is the Director of Burns Lake Regional District E. He gave us a tour of Southside, and told us about the experiences of the non-evacuees and the efforts to save Takysie.

Takysie Lake Resort Sign

The aftermath of the 2018 burn in the town of Takysie

Takysie store sign

The aftermath of the 2018 burn in the town of Takysie

Takysie propane tank

This tank (and ostensibly the entire town of Takysie) was apparently saved due to the vigilante firefighting efforts of “the wolfpack” - a band of citizen firefighters who defied the evacuation and stayed to protect their homes.

Burns only so deep

As seen on this sawn stump, even an intense fire often only burns a little ways into the surface of a log. Although there seems to be a lot of usable wood left, the soot is intolerable to industrial mills.

As Clint told us, walking through a post burn landscape can be dangerous. When the trees fall, they fall silently (at least until they hit the ground). The roots don’t creak if they’ve been severed by fire, and there’s very little earth holding the tree trunks skyward.

Scorched earth

When a fire is extremely severe, the organic matter in the mineral soil is burnt away, significantly slowing return of plant life.

Arriving at Alkali Lake

The road into Alkali Lake opens onto one of the rarest biogeoclimatic zones in BC - less than 1% of the province is bunchgrass prairie.

Not a one-horse town

Keeping dry on a rainy morning

Fuel treatment burning at Alkali Lake

Branches were pruned and burned in piles directly adjacent to the village as part of a fuel mitigation program developed in collaboration with the BC Wildfire Service, funded by the Strategic Wildfire Prevention Initiative, and crewed by students.

Alkali Resource Management

Francis Johnson

Francis Johnson is a Hereditary Chief of Esk’etemc First Nation, professional forester, and strategic planner for Alkali Resource Management. He shared with us the principles and techniques for how Alkali Lake is practicing wildfire resiliency and returning prescribed fire to the land.

Fuel treatment pile

Part of the fuel treatment near the Esk’etemc village

A fuel break near Alkali Lake

These Douglas fir stands had been pruned, thinned, and the understory cleared in order to downgrade a fire that might approach Alkali Lake. Now that the fuel load is reduced, Francis plans to begin broadcast burning on this site in a few years.

Fuel break near Alkali Lake

A galloping horse would have no issue navigating through these stands.

Adam and Francis Johnson

The grassland regrowth at this burn site was remarkable. The trees that cover the hillsides in this photo are only recent arrivals in the era of fire suppression. These hills had traditionally been kept treeless by frequent burning by Sec’wepmc First Nations.

Spring and fall burns

Adam and Francis stand at the boundary between two prescribed burns - one conducted in the fall, the other in the spring. The fire behaviour changed completely once it hit the fresh green growth - it fizzled and stopped.

Francis and Mendel

Post-Burn Mosses and Lichens

Exhibiting the dividing line between the spring and fall burns

View of the Fraser Canyon

How could we not share this view of the canyon? This was taken a ways down the valley from Alkali Lake.

Saskatoon berry

Did you listen all the way through the credits?

Our thanks go to everyone at the Bulkley Valley Research Centre. Thank you to Leigh-Ann Fenwick, Sheena Briggs, Navarana Smith, and Dawn Hanson for making this possible. And a sincere thank you to the Village of Burns Lake, The Regional District of Bulkley Nechako, and the Bulkley Valley Credit Union for their generous support of this project.

Please donate and support all the great work at the BVRC.

Thanks to each of the guests on these episodes for being incredibly generous with their time and wisdom.

Thanks to Ken Johnson at 102.3 The Bear, Frank Varga at the Burns Lake Community Forest, and Darren Stanislaus at Alkali Resource Management.

And thanks to Cameron Bentley, Simone Miller, Ilana Fonariov, and Cassy Allan.

Future Ecologies

Bulkley Valley Research Centre

Further Reading