CRANBROOK – In September 2024, the BC Wildfire Service and ʔaq̓am, a Ktunaxa Nation band, co-hosted a prescribed fire training exchange (TREX) with support from the First Nations’ Emergency Services Society. This pilot project was the first-ever delivery of a TREX in B.C. and will serve as a model for future live fire experiential trainings in other regions of the province.
The training brought together 33 participants from 13 agencies/communities for 12 days to complete four projects, treating nearly 130 hectares. Participants and facilitators alike benefitted from the diversity of backgrounds and experiences represented at the training, and the ability to network, develop relationships, and share knowledge and passion for putting fire on the back on the land.
The final report on the Kootenay ʔa·kinq̓uku TREX pilot is now available. You can access it here. This brief report provides an overview of the program delivery, lessons learned from the pilot and information about proposed future steps to expand training and capacity building in B.C. Please feel free to share this document with your networks.
Expanding the use of fire as a stewardship tool in B.C. will require more partnership-based training initiatives like TREX. Our intention is to continue to work towards that goal in collaboration with Indigenous and local governments, the contract community, fire ecologists, academics, other branches of government, and many others.
We want to thank each and every participant all our partners who made Kootenay ʔa·kinq̓uku TREX possible.
We are especially grateful to the community of ʔaq’am for welcoming us to your territory and allowing us this space to train and learn together.
We would also like to thank the following partners:
First Nations’ Emergency Services Society
Ktunaxa Nation Council
yaqan nuʔkiy
Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi’it
ʔakisq̓nuk
Osoyoos Indian Band
City of Cranbrook
City of Creston
Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship
Regional District of East Kootenay
Rocky Mountain Resource District
Selkirk Resource District
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