Program Outline
Monday, May 10, 2004
1900-2200 Registration and Ice Breaker - No Host bar
Day 1 - Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Time Topic Speaker
0800-0830 Introductions, welcome Paul Kuster, Squamish Forest District Manager, and The Honourable Mike de Jong, B.C. Minister of Forests
0830-0900 Where have our present fire management practices brought us today and where they will take us if we continue them? Robert Mutch, Fire Research, USDA Forest Service (retired)
Ecology: What are the ecological roots of our present wildfire state?
What is the issue and where is it? How do we deal with fuels?
0900-0930 Historic fire regimes and condition class - how has depriving fire of its place in US forests contributed to the fire problem? Wendy Joslin, Fire Ecologist, US Bureau of Land Management
0930-1000 In Western Canada where do the combinations of BC's historic fire regimes, our forest condition classes and the Wildland Urban Interface leave us? Brad Hawkes, Fire Research Officer, Canadian Forest Service
1000-1030
Coffee
1030-1100 Can we reduce the wildfire hazard by creating positive fire effects without using fire? The US fire and fire surrogate study - an update. Richy Harrod, Fire Ecologist, USDA Forest Service Okanagan-Wenatchee National Forest
1100-1130 Have fuel treatments been successful in diminishing wildfire behavior? Phil Omi, Professor of Fire Ecology, Colorado State University
1130-1200 What costs are associated with large-scale fuel treatments in B.C. and how do we measure their effectiveness? Greg Anderson, BC Ministry of Forests, Rocky Mountain Forest District
1200-1300
Lunch
1300-1330 How are fuels managed in US National Parks? Kara Paintner, Fire Ecologist, US National Park Service, Yosemite National Park
1330-1400 How are fuels managed in Canada's National Parks? Al Westhaver, Fire Ecologist, Canadian Park Service, Jasper National Park
1400-1430 What are the fuels management policies and practices in B.C's provincial parks and protected areas? Lyle Gawalko, Conservation Analyst, Parks and Protected Areas Branch, BC Ministry of Water, Land & Air Protection
1430-1500 What is the NGO response to fuels management in parks and protected areas? Eva Riccius, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society
1500-1530
Coffee
Economics: How do we economically deal with the bio-mass and
small diameter trees that result from fuel reduction treatments?
1530-1600 What are the product opportunities associated with small diameter tree utilization? Daniel Len,Small Diameter Utilization Project Manager, USDA Forest Service, Ft. Collins Colorado
1600-1630 How is biomass utilization integrated into forest practices in Finland? Paul Holman, Application Specialist, Timberjack Ltd.
1630-1700 What are the biomass opportunities as seen by the B.C. Ministry of Energy and Mines Janice Larsen, Senior Policy Advisor, Biofuels and Alternative Energy, B.C. Ministry of Energy and Mines
Tuesday Evening Public Session: Recent fire effects
1900-1940 What are the hydrological impacts from the Okanagan Mountain Park Fire? Timothy Smith and Don Dobson, Engineering Geologists, Dobson Engineering Ltd.
1940-2020 What role do forest insects and diseases of the dry BC interior ecosystems play in shaping the landscape and in relation to wildfire? Janice Hodge, Forest Health Specialist, JCH Pest Management Ltd.
2020-2100 What do we do with all the burned, dead trees? Richy Harrod, Fire Ecologist, USDA Forest Service, Okanagan-Wenatchee National Forest

Day 2: Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Time Topic Speaker
Economics (continued)
0800-0900
Trade Show and Coffee
0900-0930 What are the economics of fuel treatment? An Alberta example. Rory Thompson, Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada
0930-1000 What are the economics of fuel treatment? An American example. Roger Fight, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station
1000-1030
Coffee and Trade Show
Social: How do we create public understanding and education around the wildfire issue?
What are the governance issues?
1030-1100 What does the B.C. 2003 fire season means to British Columbians? A review. Peter Fuglem, Director, BC Ministry of Forests Protection Branch
1100-1140 What was the public's reaction to the wildfire summer as seen from the Firestorm 2003 Provincial Review Panel's side? The Honorable Gary Filmon
1140-1210 Letdowns, Wake-Up Calls, and Middle-of-the-Road Judgments: People's Responses to Fuel and Fire Risks. Joseph Arvai, Professor of Environmental Decision Making, Ohio State University
1210-1300
Lunch and Trade Show
1300-1330 How can we be proactive and effective with home and landscape treatments in the Wildland-Urban Interface? Rick Arthur - President, Partners in Protection, FireSmart Program
1330-1400 How can we better plan for future wildfire emergencies and who shares the responsibilities among governments? Tom Brach, Fire Protection and Emergency Services Coordinator, Regional District Central Kootenay
1400-1430 Can Australia's 'Prepare, stay and survive' program work in Western Canada? An examination of the residents' role in protecting their homes during a wildfire. John Gledhill, Chief Officer, Tasmania Fire Service and President, Australasia Fire Authority Council
1430-1500 How large an area do we need to treat in order to safeguard communities? Mark Finney, Fire Research, Systems for Environmental Management
1500-1530
Coffee and Trade Show
1530-1600 Implementing successful community WUI plans, integrating programs and building alliances. Dan Bailey, USDA Forest Service National WUI/Firewise Program Manager
1600-1630 What is the insurance's industry emerging approach to wildfire hazard abatement and home coverage? Jamie France, Manager, Property and Casualty Underwriting, State Farm Insurance, Bloomington, Illinois
1630-1700 What are Florida's legal requirements for fuel reduction treatments in the WUI? Jim Brenner, State of Florida Division of Forestry
1700-1900 Cash Bar and Trade Show Viewing
1900-2130 Banquet Speaker: What are the politics around wildfire? Vaughn Palmer, Columnist, The Vancouver Sun

Day 3: Thursday, May 13, 2004
Field Trip - Six stop tour accessed by Haylmore Forest Service Road near Pemberton

Stop 1: Landscape-level wildfire hazard issues and tools for analysis
Presentation of the many variables affecting wildfire hazard and the analytical tools used in quantification, spatial identification, and prioritization. Within this high- to extreme-wildfire hazard landscape participants can view a wide range of hazard factors including: a landscape-scale insect infestation (western spruce budworm), private property with varying levels of fuel hazard, industrial activities with no post-harvest fuel treatments (timber harvest, utility right-of-ways).

Stop 2: Young plantation fuel mitigation strategies
The challenge of reducing the fuel hazard posed by conifer plantations planted through harvest slash is being faced by many forest and fire managers throughout North America. This 5 ha stand, originated from a 1989 wildfire, was chosen as a fuel mitigation experiment site due to its close proximity to the wildland-urban interface. A third of the stand was thinned and prescribed burned in an attempt to determine an effective strategy for reducing the wildfire threat posed by these stand types.

Stops 3-5: Wildland-urban interface fuel reduction treatment
This 140 ha treatment unit was developed adjacent to the community of Devine, B.C. because of its classification of extreme wildfire hazard stemming from a wildfire threat analysis. Several years of close community coordination, intensive stand attribute inventory, and historic fire regime analysis went into developing this treatment to increase the "wildfire resilience" of the stand adjacent to Devine. The thinning treatment began in December of 2003 and will continue for the next year. The first phase of the unit is scheduled to be prescribed-burned in April of 2004. Participants will visit three separate components of the project:

Stop 3: marked, untreated stand
Stop 4: thinned but unburned stand
Stop 5: recently thinned and burned stand

Stop 6: Recent fuel reduction treatments in the Wildland-Urban Interface

One of the challenges of fuel hazard reduction is how much reduction is possible in the first treatment and how long will the positive effects of the treatment last. This 30 ha unit was thinned in 2001 and burned in 2002. Fuels had accumulated significantly since the last natural fire in 1908, and additional fuels were added through the thinning. How much fuel therefore can be removed without affecting the overstory and soil productivity? Quantitiative data will be presented on fuel dynamics on this site including fuel loading from the following periods: modeled historic, current condition (pre-thinning), post-thinning, post-burn, and likely future.

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