Interface Fuel Management Program

Tri-Regional District - Operational Fuel Management Program

City of Rossland Backgrounder - Administration Briefing 

Program Background:  A Community Wildfire Protection Program for communities in the Kootenay’s three regional district’s (RDKB, RDCK and RDEK) is underway. B.A. Blackwell & Associates has been contracted to manage an Operational Fuel Management Program throughout these three regions. John McLean, Chief Administrative Officer of the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary is the Program Sponsor and Bruce Blackwell is the Program Manager.

The primary goal of the project is to reduce hazardous forest fuel loads as identified in Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) adjacent to communities throughout the three Regional Districts. Local forest workers, forest professionals, and contractors will do the majority of this work.

The project involves several key elements including, but not limited to:

• Gathering GIS data to obtain a full understanding of the extent of lands requiring treatment under existing CWPPs;
• Consulting with First Nations and local communities to identify areas that are the highest priority and do not have existing barriers to treatment;
• Tendering prescription development, layout and fuel treatment work;
• Hiring forestry workers and contractors to carry out program work.

The current funding for this project comes through the Jobs Opportunity Fund (JOP). The treatment work under the JOP program must be completed by March 31, 2011. The project will attempt to leverage additional funds through the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) and if additional funding can be obtained, treatment work may continue beyond March 31, 2011.

Public input will be incorporated prior to treatment implementation following the development of detailed prescriptions. At no time will treatments be planned and implemented without an opportunity for public input and the endorsement of local government.

B.A. Blackwell staff and sub-consultants who make up the Project Team will act as Project Managers within each community and will carry out some prescription and layout work, and supervise fuel treatments. All elements of the work will be supervised and quality assured by B.A. Blackwell & Associates Ltd. Community consultation will be managed by the Project Team.

Prescription work and project startup is currently underway in some communities with up to 15 projects being targeted for commencement this summer. Project Manager’s will work with a designated community contact from fuel treatment project inception to completion. Program Manager Bruce Blackwell and the locally assigned Project Manager will be available to discuss any issues throughout the life of the Program.

City of Rossland Status:  Forestry professionals from BA Blackwell visited Rossland in late April and worked with local Project Manager, Don Mortimer to layout and prepare detailed treatment prescriptions for ~23 hectares of City owned land designated as priority treatment area. Those prescriptions are now complete (map attached to this briefing memo) and consultation with local government and the public can be commenced.

The actual fuel treatment will result in the renewal of forest health and improving the biodiversity of the forests while providing fire prevention measures to reduce the likelihood of extreme fire behaviour.

Work will include thinning from below, the removal of dead and diseased trees, as well as the removal of ladder fuels and small woody surface debris.

Ancillary benefits of fuel treatments on City of Rossland lands include: 

• Reduced potential fire intensity in the fuel treated areas adjacent City of Rossland water reservoir enhances post-fire slope stability and overall watershed protection;
• Removal of hazard trees in the fuel treated areas adjacent designated trails will improve trail safety and reduce trail maintenance requirements.
• Treated areas serve as demonstration FireSmart fuel treatment areas with educational signage in high use / high visibility areas serving to increase public awareness of the need for FireSmart fuel treatments on private lands.

If you have any questions or concerns at this point, please contact Bruce Blackwell at 604-985-8769, bablackwell@bablackwell.com.

or

Don Mortimer, The City of Rossland Fuel Treatment Program Manager at 250-362-9680

For information on Kootenay Tri-Region Operational Fuel Management Contract and Employment Opportunities please visit this site: http://www.bablackwell.com/Kootenay/