Community Wildfires A new management approach could empower communities to protect themselves from wildfire while encouraging bioenergy development. BIOMASS CANADIAN Volume 4 No. 4 Editor -Heather Hager (519) 429-3966 ext 261 [email protected] Group Publisher/Editorial Director -Scott Jamieson (519) 429-3966 ext 244 [email protected] Contributors -Colleen Cross, Gordon Murray, Reg Renner Market Production Manager Josée Crevier Ph: (514) 425-0025 Fax: (514) 425-0068 [email protected] National Sales Manager Ross Anderson Ph: (519) 429-5188 Fax: (519) 429-3094 [email protected] Quebec Sales Josée Crevier Ph: (514) 425-0025 Fax: (514) 425-0068 [email protected] Western Sales Manager Tim Shaddick [email protected] Ph: (604) 264-1158 Fax: (604) 264-1367 Production Artist -Kate Patchell PubliCATiOn MAil AGReeMenT #40065710 ReTuRn undeliveRAble CAnAdiAn AddReSSeS TO CiRCulATiOn dePARTMenT P.O. bOx 51058 PinCOuRT, QC J7v 9T3 e-mail: [email protected] Canadian biomass is published six times a year: February, April, June, August, October, and december. Published and printed by Annex Publishing & Printing inc. Printed in Canada iSSn 0318-4277 Circulation Carol nixon e-mail: [email protected] P.O. box 51058 Pincourt, QC J7v 9T3 Subscription Rates: Canada -1 Yr $49.50; 2 Yr $87.50; 3 Yr $118.50 Single Copy -$9.00 (Canadian prices do not include applicable taxes) uSA – 1 Yr $60 uS; Foreign – 1 Yr $77 uS Occasionally, Canadian biomass magazine will mail information on behalf of industry-related groups whose products and services we believe may be of interest to you. if you prefer not to receive this information, please contact our circulation department in any of the four ways listed above.. no part of the editorial content of this publica-tion may be reprinted without the publisher’s written permission ©2011 Annex Publishing & Printing inc. All rights reserved. Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher. no liability is assumed for errors or omissions. All advertising is subject to the publisher’s approval. Such approval does not imply any endorsement of the products or services advertised. Publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising that does not meet the standards of the publication. www.canadianbiomassmagazine.com M any forest communities are looking at Slave Lake, Alberta, and wondering if the same thing might happen to them. Communities in forested areas recognize the need to manage and mini-mize the fuel load in their immediate surroundings, re-ducing the risk of wildfires and facilitating their control. In British Columbia, the Firestorm 2003 report, com-missioned by the provincial government and published in 2004, made a series of recommendations for com-munity wildfire prevention. Since then, “only 2% of the forestland surrounding com-munities has been treated to reduce dangerous fuel loads,” writes report co-author and fire ecologist Robert Gray in a recent op-ed in the Vancouver Sun. He says that’s because provin-cial funding covers only a fraction of the cost of such treatments, and municipalities often cannot cover the remaining costs, particularly when extensive areas require attention. Wildfires are becoming more extensive. As of July 7, Canada saw fewer forest fires in 2011 (2,202) than in 2010 (3,090). But those fires burned much more area: about 1.8 million hectares vs. 1.5 million, respectively, accord-ing to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. Similarly, in the United States, the area burned by wildfire in 2011 outstripped that burned by July 7 in the past 10 years, with 38,452 fires burning 2 million hectares so far in 2011, and 60,918 fires (almost 40% more) burning just 1.6 million hectares in 2006. The United States is taking action. U.S. For-est Service chief Tom Tidwell recently “urged lawmakers to again provide full funding in 2012 for [forest fuel reduction] projects in nine states,” as communities whose perimeter for-ests have been thinned are clearly faring better with respect to fire than those whose forests were not, reports E&E News. Tidwell also recommended that the government continue investing in uses of small-diameter and unmer-chantable fibre from thin-ning for renewable energy. The U.S. Forest Service has awarded $3 million in grants to small business-es and communities for biomass-based renewable energy projects. The funds are allowing the groups to develop and install bioen-ergy facilities for heat and/ or power to make use of biomass “removed from forests during projects such as wildfire prevention,” says a U.S. Department of Agriculture press release. Because much of the responsibility for fuel reduction in Canada is placed on municipal governments, various stakeholders in British Columbia are proposing a simple solution. Give them jurisdiction over enough perimeter Crown land that the cost of thinning that area is offset by using the biomass in renewable energy projects such as district heating for municipal buildings. This seems like a “no-brainer”. After all, even forestry companies can only afford to harvest biomass as a supple-mentary product to higher-value timber. In a mid-June presentation to the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Com-mittee (as reported by E&E News ), U.S. Sena-tor Jon Kyl said, “The cost of fighting the fires and reconstruction afterward far exceeds the prevention costs… It’s like any other medi-cal situation: Prevention will save you a lot of money in the long run, but it does require an upfront commitment.” Heather Hager, Editor [email protected] 4 Canadian BIOMASS
Canadian Biomass July/August 2011: Page 4
