The Okanagan valley is located in a hot and dry climate which prior to European settlement experienced frequent wildfires. These wildfires occurred every 10 to 20 years consuming grasses, young trees and the lower dead branches of older trees.
Fire was an important vegetation management tool for First Nations. When living near the valley bottom light burns were used consume dried grasses and shrubs to protect habitation sites from larger and more dangerous fires. Fire was also used to promote important food or medicinal plants and was also used to promote hunting success.
Since the early 1900’s British Columbia has entered a period of “fire exclusion”. First Nations were discouraged from using fire for vegetation management, and since the 1940’s British Columbia has been very aggressive in extinguishing wildfires in all forested lands in the province.
Fire exclusion has resulted in a dangerous accumulation of forest fuels in the form of dead trees, heavy branches and infill of young Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine. In August of 2003, a lightning strike in Okanagan Mountain Park fire, on the east side of Okanagan Lake resulted in a wildfire that consumed over 25,000 hectares of forest, forced the evacuation of more than 27,000 people and destroyed 239 homes in Kelowna. The 2003 fire burned a portion of Woodlot 346 held by WFN.
In July of 2009 three fires broke out on the WFN-CF. Two of these, the Glenrosa fire and the Rose Valley fire forced the evacuation of a large portion of the population of West Kelowna and destroyed two homes.
The Westbank First Nation – Community Forest (WFN-CF) is the cornerstone to wildfire protection of several significant communities. There is approximately 24 kilometres of Wildland Urban Interface perimeter within the WFN-CF, equivalent to approximately 4,800 ha. The entire eastern boundary of the WFN-CF is within or immediately adjacent to developments in West Kelowna, Peachland Municipalities and/or the Regional District of the Central Okanagan.
In September of 2010 an Operational Level Fuel Management Plan (OLFMP) was completed for the WFN-CF. The OLFMP is different from a Community Wildfire Protection Plan because it focuses on the broader context of professional forest management, and not just fuel management.
The project is also jurisdictionally challenging and complex due to the size, number of people and communities affected, the multiple levels of government, agencies and stakeholders as well as marginally economic timber values near the communities.
The OLFMP identified 25 fuel management assessment areas within the Wildland Urban Interface on the eastern boundary of the WFN-CF covering approximately 1,386ha. At a landscape level, the professional forest management of the WFN-CF will play a large role in determining how successful wildfire management is. This will be particularly important with respect to minimizing the impact to the landbase during wildfire suppression on the WFN-CF through the utilization of the strategic and operationally located logging road network.
Operational Level
Fuel Management Plan Presentation
February 3, 2010
Operation Level Fuel Management Plan Report
September, 2010
