Rachelle Stein-Wotten
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Gabriola Sounder
The parks and open spaces advisory committee has voted not to move forward with a planned wildfire safety demonstration plot in 707 Community Park, effectively putting the park’s fuel prescription plan to bed.
A recommendation from Regional District of Nanaimo staff called for the planning of a Community Resiliency Investment (CRI) grant-funded demonstration block in the park to be discontinued.
In June 2023, the Electoral Area B POSAC supported a motion for staff to conduct community outreach to inform the development of a potential draft 2024 CRI application for a one hectare demonstration plot using the fuel prescription treatment plan for the 707. The plot – the location of which had not yet been decided – would act as an educational tool regarding wildfire mitigation strategies and show what a large-scale implementation of the prescription would look like.
The demonstration plot was one of several options considered by POSAC in response to the 2022 grant-funded fuel prescription for the park that was written by Diamondhead Consulting. The prescription recommended thinning mostly dead and weak trees to retain 12 per cent of trees through 95 hectares of the park, which rose concerns among POSAC members of the ecological impacts of such action as well as overall costs.
In January, RDN staff consulted with Gabriola Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief Will Sprogis; BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) representatives; and Gabriola Island Lands and Trails Trust President Hugh Skinner and Past-President Rob Brockley on the demonstration plot plan. General consensus was to not proceed with it.
“A demonstration plot will not likely reduce the fuel load significantly enough to impact wildfire risk in the park,” the RDN staff summary says. “BCWS noted that they feel they have sufficient capacity and ability to manage a potential wildfire in 707 CP, and that a demonstration plot would not improve this ability.”
Both Sprogis and BCWS suggested homeowners implementing fire safety practices on their properties would have more impact on improving wildfire resiliency on the island. GaLTT noted a demonstration plot completed using hand tools would not accurately reflect the results of a large-scale mechanical treatment as suggested by the fuel prescription. A 2022 letter from GaLTT about the prescription referred to the “hands-off” approach described in the park management plan.
“In retrospect, the current situation could likely have been avoided if active stand density control measures had been supported and taken much earlier in the forest succession process,” the letter says.
Parks staff told the committee that the recommendation to discontinue the plot related to the in-development wildfire risk strategy, which will identify risks for both regional and community parks in the RDN. How specific it may be to individual parks is unclear at this time as staff said the scope of the strategy has yet to be fully developed.
No other action is planned for the 707 park in relation to the fuel prescription.
POSAC member Kyle Clifford called the situation an “interesting turn of events.”
“My biggest issue would be the kind of resources that were spent in terms of staff time and consultants…. I hope that in terms of moving forward with this wildfire management risk strategy we’re not saying down the road, that, well, it was nice to go through the exercise but nothing’s going to come of it.”
Electoral Area B Director Vanessa Craig said being the first electoral area to explore a demonstration plot in a park can come with drawbacks. “Part of the reason why we’re going almost like a full circle is we were the first ones going down that road, and realizing that maybe for our park, and especially if we’re going a different route which is the focus on biodiversity and doing a larger plan, we may have gone too far down a road a bit too quickly.”
Pursuit of exploring wildfire risk and hazard reduction in the 707 stems from a recommendation in the park’s management plan, which calls for implementation of a fuel reduction program and regular fire risk assessments “to reduce the risk of fire through natural processes and unauthorized park uses.”
Original story on the proposal here: Fuel prescription for 707 park recommends removing 88% of trees
The three Treatment Units where the fuel prescription work was proposed to happen within the 707 Community Park. Regional District of Nanaimo Image
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