In 2018, the government launched the Community Resiliency Investment (CRI) Program to develop a provincial risk reduction strategy to reduce wildfire risk through targeted wildfire management activities in high wildfire-risk landscapes. Under CRI, the Crown Land Wildfire Risk Reduction (CLWRR) program was launched with project-based funding for fuel treatments on high wildfire-risk Crown land near communities or critical infrastructure. Since 2018, $36M has been invested in projects on provincial Crown land, completing 42 tactical plans, 11,000 hectares of prescription development, and 5,000 hectares in operational treatments, including fully funded cultural and prescribed fire (C&Rx) projects.
The CLWRR program has built a strong foundation and resulted in greater integration of WRR activities between the Ministry of Forests, BC Parks, and Mountain Resorts Branch. However, it has been recognized that greater stability and long-term success can be achieved through an enhanced resourcing strategy built on permanent employee-based funding with consistent accountabilities across the province. Therefore, the Crown Land Wildfire Risk Reduction (CLWRR) Planning for the Future project team was launched in the fall of 2021 to develop a resourcing strategy to address WRR implementation challenges on high-risk Crown land.
The resourcing strategy has now been approved and resulted in 37 full-time employee (FTE) positions, including support positions, dedicated to wildfire risk reduction activities across the province coordinated by the BC Wildfire Service, Ministry of Forests – Regional Operations, BC Parks, and Mountain Resorts Branch. With ongoing funding of the CLWRR program, land managers can strategically plan for fuel management activities with a high level of certainty and support. The targeted allocation for 2022/2023 is $17,000,000 and for 2023/2024 is $19,050,000.
The purpose of the resourcing strategy is to meet planning and delivery partner needs, with a commensurate increase in target delivery allocation to implement the CLWRR program and meet operational targets. CLWRR proposed projects are reviewed by subject matter experts embedded within each Fire Centre across the province. As a result of cross-ministry collaboration between fuel management plans, the resourcing strategy promotes integrated land management decisions across provincial land managers to align WRR activities.
Finally, the resourcing strategy recognizes the need for structural integration with rehabilitation and recovery, as well as prescribed fire and cultural burning. It will be a framework for future resourcing strategies for those two programs.
CLWRR Resource Strategy alignment with wildfire resiliency programs
The Cultural and Prescribed Fire and Wildfire Land Based Recovery Programs (WLBRP) operate alongside WRR as key programs to deliver the Ministry’s goals for wildfire resiliency on the landscape. Although the Cultural and Prescribed Fire and WLBRP are in the design/build phase, they will likely transition from project-based to program-based delivery models as they become fully integrated into Ministry business.
It is recognized that a longer-term Ministry-wide resourcing strategy for the operational delivery of these programs will need to be addressed as these programs are stood up over the next 12-18 months. Any resourcing strategy will build on the work done on the WRR resourcing strategy and the Integrated Investment program to ensure a responsive and integrated approach for delivery of the WRR, C&Rx Fire and WLBR Programs.
While the positions funded through the WRR resourcing strategy are expected to be primarily focused on WRR, the WRR resourcing strategy provides regions with the flexibility to support the delivery of all three programs based on regional priorities in the interim, while the resourcing strategies for C&Rx Fire and WLBR are being developed.
More information on the CLWRR Planning for the Future Project, including an FAQ on the resourcing strategy and WRR Job Profiles, can be located here.
For any further inquiries, please contact Nadia.Skokun@gov.bc.ca.
Thank you to the members of the CLWRR Planning for the Future project team:
Claire Allen, A/Deputy Manager, BCWS Prevention
Kelly Osbourne, Fire and Fuels Management Specialist
Nicole Unrau, Project Manager, Prevention
Clint Parker, Fire Centre Manager, Coastal Fire Centre
Jason Ward, Senior Wildfire Officer, Prevention, Cariboo Fire Centre
Jevan Hanchard, Regional Executive Director, Skeena Region
Rhonda Morris, District Manager, West Coast Region
Jamie Kroschel, Resource Manager, Kootenay Boundary Region
Marina Irwin, Resource Manager, Thompson Okanagan Region
Brent Lipinski, Land and Resource Specialist, Thompson Okanagan Region
Julie Maxwell, Land and Resource Coordinator, Thompson Okanagan Region
Lindsay Vandesteeg, Provincial Land and Resource Section Head, BC Parks
Kelly Northcott, Senior Manager, Mountain Resorts Branch