Okanagan Mountain Park wildfire

The Good Creek wildfire in Okanagan Mountain Park, approaching Lakeshore Rd, near Kelowna, BC, Canada.

Taken July 19, 2018. Credit: Pinderphoto

Developing strategies for wildfire and forest management that minimize climate impact and strengthen BC’s bioeconomy

Wildfire and Carbon aims to incorporate future wildfire impacts into forest management practises to help develop strategies to reduce emissions from wildfires, enhance forest carbon (C) sinks, and assess bioeconomy opportunities for forest fibre.

Climate change is causing increased frequency and severity of wildfires with significant consequences for the forest carbon balance. Direct emissions from wildfires in British Columbia (BC) in each of 2017 and 2018 were more than three times those of all sectors in BC combined, motivating wildfire risk management as a high priority in future forest management approaches.

Managing forests to achieve emissions reductions involves many complex trade-offs. This project aims to investigate potential changes in forest management that reduce emissions from forests and enhance C sinks while also considering economic strategies for the use of forest fibre derived from wildfire risk reduction activities.

The project brings together forestry scientists and experts from the University of British Columbia, University of Washington, US Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, the BC Wildfire Service, and Parks Canada.

Theme Partnership Project: Began Jan 1, 2020 / Project Duration: Four years

Prescribed Burn: a wildfire risk reduction activity that also releases greenhouse gases and smoke. Image: NRCan.

Cascadia Wildfire and Urban Smoke Webinar Series

This working group includes researchers and policy experts addressing issues related to forest fires, forest management (wildland and urban), public health, climate change, city planning, and emergency management.

Watch Paul Hessburg Nonforests: Forest Landscape Secret Sauce?

Watch Carly Phillips "Climate change, wildfires, & COVID-19"

Watch Lori Daniels "Tree rings, landscape resilience & fire adaptation"

Watch Werner Kurz "Climate change, CO2 reduction & bio-economy"

 

Research Partners

Principal Investigators

Werner Kurz

Principal Investigator, Senior Research Scientist, Natural Resources Canada

Lori Daniels

Professor, Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, Faculty of Forestry, UBC

Dominik Roeser

Associate Professor, Department of Forest Resources Management, UBC

Carolyn Smyth

Research Scientist, Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada

Researchers

Florenca Tiribelli

Florencia Tiribelli

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, Faculty of Forestry, UBC

Sheng Xie’s

Sheng Xie

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Forest Resources Management, UBC

Tristan Zaborniak

Tristan Zaborniak

Wildfire and Carbon Modeller, Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada

Students

Jen Baron

Jen Baron

PhD Candidate, Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, Faculty of Forestry, UBC

Solution Seekers

  • BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development
  • BC Wildfire Service
  • First Nations
  • Forest industry
  • Government of Canada
  • Natural Resources Canada
  • Parks Canada