By Abigail Popple, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, RMG
Eight Robson Valley locals gathered at the Dunster Community Hall on Tuesday, October 15th, to discuss the Regional District’s forthcoming Community Wildfire Resilience Plans. Regional District staff are hosting one open house in each of the district’s seven electoral areas, plus one online open house, to hear residents’ feedback on what infrastructure should be protected, and which wildfire prevention tasks such as installing sprinklers or undergoing vegetation management should be prioritized.
Each open house also features a presentation from the firm consultants hired by the District in February, who conducted wildfire risk assessments throughout the district over the summer. Research lead and presenter Sidney Potter, a wildfire management specialist with forest management consultancy firm Forsite, told The Goat that community wildfire resilience plans are an important requirement to access funding from BC Wildfire Service and the Union of BC Municipalities.
“Once the Regional District has this plan in place… it opens up these avenues for so much more funding,” Potter said. “That funding can pay for education, vegetation management, and for the Regional District to work with BC Wildfire Service and municipalities to do cross-agency training.”
With an area of over 50,000 square kilometres, the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George was a huge swath of land for Potter and her team to cover, she said. They collected data on fuel supply in forested areas, where critical infrastructure is located throughout the district, and how to keep potential exit routes protected from wildfire, among other information.
Now that hard data has been collected, the open houses provide an opportunity for public feedback before the plans are written and finalized early next year. Additionally, the Regional District is circulating an online survey until November 1st, which asks residents for comments on what should be prioritized in the wildfire resiliency plans. Hearing about residents’ priorities – such as what kind of infrastructure should be protected, or how the district should educate people on wildfire prevention – is a crucial part of drafting the plan, said Mike Simpson, a forester who was subcontracted to work on the plan with the Forsite team.
“We’ve done the preliminary stuff on the ground, but the essence of these meetings is to figure out what’s important to people, and what areas on the map are of particular concern, so we can build that into the plan,” Simpson said. “The plan is nowhere near done: that’s why we want to build this in now, and collect this info before we finish it.”
Only one open house is being held for each electoral area, so the Regional District chose to have the Electoral Area H presentation in Dunster because it is roughly in between McBride and Valemount, according to Simpson.
During her presentation, Potter outlined her findings on wildfire risks within Electoral Area H, which encompasses the Valemount and McBride area. She found that many private properties in the area are adjacent to forests with combustible fuel, and said the Community Wildfire Resilience Plan can reflect this fact by including suggestions for grants that residents can use to reduce the risk of fire on their property.
The plan will also inform the Regional District about vulnerabilities in the electoral area’s critical infrastructure, such as the Dunster Community Hall, Potter added.
Attendees appreciated the chance to ask questions about the Community Wildfire Resilience Plan, though some felt the event could have been better advertised. Most heard about the event through the Dunster Fire Brigade, a newly-formed group of residents with fire suppression training who are organizing for better wildfire preparedness in the Dunster area.
Dunster resident Pedro Garcia Conde, pictured above, was among those who heard about the presentation through the brigade.
“There are a lot of people willing to listen [to this presentation]… I know 30 or 35 people who would’ve come,” Conde said.
He added that many residents do not use the internet regularly, so Facebook posts and website updates about the event could not reach every resident.
Hilary Erasmus, Manager of Communications and Culture for the Regional District, told The Goat the event was posted on local Facebook pages, the Regional District’s website, and the Regional District’s email list. Additionally, posters were sent to volunteer fire departments throughout the district, and the Regional District will advertise in local papers throughout the week leading up to the Monday, October 28th online open house.
Loretta Simpson, another Dunster resident, was dropping off her garbage at the transfer station just outside the Dunster Community Hall, and came in because she recognized the cars people left parked outside. While she came to the event out of pure coincidence, she said she found it valuable.
“It was interesting,” Simpson told the Goat. “I think everyone was quite concerned about the wildfires we had last summer, with the fire in Valemount, and two fires in the community here, it is quite scary.”
According to Erasmus, the Community Wildfire Resilience Plans for each electoral area will be posted online once they are finalized in early 2025, likely in February.The Regional District will be holding an online open house for anyone who couldn’t attend one in-person on Monday, October 28th, at 6:30 p.m. The registration link can be found at https://www.rdffg.ca/CWRP.
