Thank you for bringing this important topic (wildfire mitigation) forward to our community (Pique, July 16, “Should Whistler rethink its approach to wildfire mitigation?”).
I am just back from eight days hiking in the Chilcotin with no internet access.
The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW), Bruce Blackwell and I agree on the need to protect our community and its assets from the increased threat of forest fires. (Bruce Blackwell of B.A. Blackwell and Associates is behind Whistler’s wildfire mitigation strategies.)
I want to highlight the need to also support the health of forest ecosystems. I am suggesting we adapt our forest protection intervention in two ways:
We monitor the impact of our fire avoidance intervention on the health of our forests and the ecosystem processes required, as well as the effectiveness in reducing fire risk over time;
We modify our approach to reducing fire risk with a more integrated forest ecosystem management approach to leverage the natural ability of our forest to maintain soil moisture and buffer the forest with fire smart steps in areas of human development.
With such an important impact on our forest ecosystem, we need to ensure we are monitoring and assessing the effects of our actions to reduce fire risk and support healthy forest ecosystems.
As Mr. Blackwell expressed, there is no scientific evidence that fire thinning in our forest is reducing the fire risk. His actions are focused on reducing fuel, one of the three ingredients for fire. However, by opening the forest to increased airflow, especially along topographic features like the slopes in Lost Lake, we are increasing the second ingredient for fire (oxygen).
The third ingredient is heat.
There is currently no monitoring of how fire thinning is impacting wildlife or the ecosystem processes that maintain healthy forests. As Mr. Blackwell said, his strategy to reduce fire risk in Fort McMurray failed. Before we continue, we need to understand the environmental impacts of forest thinning.
I conducted a preliminary study on my own in late April on fire-thinned and not-thinned areas of Lost Lake to test the effects of thinning on soil moisture, snow melt and ground temperature.
These are key indicators of fire risk. The preliminary results show increased snow melt where the forest was opened by fire thinning suggesting an increased fire risk. A follow-up study should be repeated in Spring 2021 as part of a fully controlled study of all fire-thinned areas in Whistler.
My concern is based on my experience as a contributing scientist on research to assess the Critical Size of Ecosystems with World Wildlife Fund in Brazil and later in Woss (Vancouver Island) with Forestry Canada.
Both studies showed removal of trees resulted in an increased amount of “edge” to interior of the forest stand, which caused increased loss of species dependent on interior forest conditions—species which were critical to the intricate food webs and cycling of nutrients in a healthy forest ecosystem. With increased edge, air currents moved into the forest resulting in drier soils and successive falling of the remaining trees.
We can support ecosystem health and reduce fire risk by planting native deciduous bushes on the human-developed perimeter of the forest as a moisture-holding buffer. We need to maintain the natural moisture of our multiage and multispecies forest and focus on reducing risk due to human behaviour such as campfires and smoking.
Thank you for this opportunity to respond.
I look forward to the field discussion with the RMOW council and Mr. Blackwell.
Rhonda L. Millikin, PhD, MSc, RPBio, ITA Horticulture // Whistler
Real behaviour change needed to address climate change
Maintain social distance, wash your hands, sanitize frequently and now we are admonished to wear a “f-ing mask” ... societies worldwide have obediently adapted new behaviours, even new morals, to minimize the propagation of a disease that is essentially a temporary threat to a minority of the human population (Pique, July 16, “A simple message from Whistler’s medical director: ‘Be kind and wear a f---ing mask!’”).
I suppose that now that I have turned 60, I am a member of the more vulnerable demographic benefiting from this swift cultural transition.
But why can we not similarly develop new behaviours and new morals to address a threat that is far more ominous and more enduring than COVID-19, a menace that will undoubtedly affect the welfare of everyone under 60, as well as seriously impacting all future generations of humans and non-humans alike?
I’m referring, of course, to global warming. When do we start to incorporate considerations of personal carbon footprint in the myriad decisions we make on a daily basis, all 8 billion of us?
We could start with things a simple as bringing a “f-ing” bag to the grocery store and turning off your “f-ing” engine when you sit in your car chatting on the phone, or better yet, ride your “f-ing” bike.
Tom DeMarco, MD // Whistler
Don’t assume story behind U.S. licence plates
Not every U.S. licence plate that is spotted in town indicates a crafty American vacationer.
My partner is a proud permanent resident of Canada who didn’t have the opportunity to import his vehicle before quarantine so he’s driving around with Washington plates.
Last week, someone wrote “go home” on the dust on his rear window.
Our neighbours are Canadian-born, dual citizens who live in California and returned home a few weeks ago. After the required 14-day quarantine, they ventured out to the farmers’ market where a concerned citizen(?) keyed their car with California plates in the parking lot.
I’m also aware of several situations of individuals with U.S. plates who are caring for elderly relatives and are worried about potential damage to their vehicles.
It is the responsibility of Canadian border services to enforce who is admitted into Canada.
In the words of Dr. Bonnie, “BE KIND, be calm, be safe.”
Karen Laughland // Whistler
Try using some common sense?
I wanted to follow up on the letter you published dated July 16, by Natalie Rock and Jim Brown (“How pathetic are we as Canadians?”). The assumptions made in that were astounding, and I am surprised it was published, honestly.
Condoning Whistler locals going around photographing American [licence] plates, wasting our RCMP’s time, and assuming everyone who looks out of place is somehow sneaking into the country?
How is that different than just assuming something about someone based on their skin colour? This is disrespecting our border guards and our government, and our neighbours in general, and showing quite a bit of ignorance on the part of locals in a tourist town.
At any time since this pandemic started, Canadian citizens have been allowed back into the country, regardless of their location of so-called permanent residence, and regardless of where their vehicle has been insured.
When governments worldwide made the call in March for citizens to come home, that was because they knew it was going to be hard to fly anywhere, not because they wouldn’t allow citizens to come home. Can you imagine the actual repercussions of what denying citizens access to their own country would look like to a democracy?
Not to mention, in June our prime minister announced that any immediate family of a Canadian citizen could join them, to mitigate the separation felt by so many people with families on both sides of the border.
Yes, they created a toll-free number to report American plates to. Has anyone ever considered that this was created to divert energy from the RCMP, not to add work to their plate?
The worst part of this pandemic has been seeing neighbours turn on neighbours, and the return of localism instead of remembering the roots of our town.
We are fortunate to not be on actual government lockdown like much of the world was or is, where a border guard or police officer would sooner shoot you than use common sense to decide what was important.
I hope people start using some common sense and compassion instead of jumping on bandwagons, making assumptions based on one newspaper [letter to the editor], and wasting their time on something that should be left to those people who get paid to police these matters.
Jenn Eyben // Sea to Sky resident since 1999 // Dual citizen since 1978
