Forest Fire Prevention and Suppression Regulation The Forest Fire Prevention and Suppression Regulation is one of 20 regulations established under the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act. This regulation requires every person working in or within 1 kilometre of a forest to provide suitable fire-fighting equipment. The kind and amount of equipment varies with the type of activity being conducted, the time of year the activity is performed and the number of persons employed at the worksite of the activity. Fire regulations have undergone a number of significant changes over the years. These changes have included combining the Fire Precautions in Relation to Railways, Forest Fire Prevention Regulation, Snags and Slash Disposal and the Campfire Regulation. The Forest Fire Prevention and Suppression Regulation was introduced in 1995. The elimination of both Class ‘B’ burning permits in 1994 - 1995 and Class ‘A’ burning permits in 1998 made way for a more efficient system for administration of open fires. Other changes were made regarding the fire equipment required in helicopter logging operations and the submission of fire preparedness plans in order to ensure efficiencies and keep in step with changes in the forest industry. For further information: www.for.gov.bc.ca/tasb/legsregs/ http://bcwildfire.ca/
Integrating Fire and Land Management Wildfires are the most prevalent natural disturbance in BC and demand both our understanding and our respect. Wildfires promote plant and animal diversity by maintaining structural complexity within stands and by influencing the composition, size, edge characteristics and distribution of stands across the landscape. Most grassland and forested ecosystems in BC are influenced by wildfire, which may select for or against particular plants and animals – within populations, among species, in ecosystems and on the landscape. There are differences between natural fire regimes and those implemented by resource managers. A role for natural and/or prescribed fire may be possible in protected areas and ecological reserves, and in other forested areas under certain circumstances. The challenge to resource and fire managers is one of including and excluding the appropriate type, location and quantity of both natural and prescribed fires on the various landscapes of this province, in consideration of resource, community and wilderness values. Technological improvements in fire detection and suppression have greatly enhanced our abilities to manage fire but attention must always be paid to the long-term environmental effects of fire inclusion or exclusion and the economic and social costs and benefits of fire management policies and practices.
Fire Ecology and Management 523