NOVEMBER 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC
Cost of record wildfires continues to rise Re-establishing forage, infrastructure the focus of intense provincial efforts
Stories by TOM WALKER
PRINCE GEORGE – Perry Grilz, range director for the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNRORD), was driving home from shopping in Prince George on July 8 when he stopped at the Provincial Regional Emergency Operations Centre to see what was happening.
He ended up spending the
rest of the summer there, supporting range tenure holders as wildfires consumed more than three million acres. “Now that the emergencies
are over, range staff have begun the reconstruction,” says Grilz. “We have learned a lot from past fires.”
Forage losses
It wasn’t how 2017 was supposed to unfold. “In general, the amount of
forage production this past spring on Crown range across BC had been very good,” says Grilz. “That was based on favourable fall 2016 and spring 2017 soil moisture conditions.”
But things can change, and
they did. The worst fire season in the
province’s history saw vast swaths of forage in the heart of BC cattle country scorched. Range staff and Crown range tenure holders have only just started to identify the extent
of acreage affected. “Staff are working with
burn severity mapping developed by the BC Wildfire Service to determine the impacts to Crown range,” he says. “Further range inventory and forage supply analysis will be done as needed. We’re talking with ranchers. Some of our staff are using drones. We will have to do some ground- truthing – we are using every tool we’ve got.” Grilz says that things are
not always as they seem. Dramatic footage of dense forests ablaze likely did little damage to forage resources. And even where forage land was consumed, says Grilz, “not everything is burned completely black.” Still, recovery of forage on
scorched acreage will take time. “In general, it takes one to
three years for the range to recover,” says Grilz. “The amount of time to return to full production is dependent on the severity of the fire, the plant community and the environmental conditions for plant recovery.” A wet fall, good snowpack and moist spring, for example, will give grass a better shot at re-establishment than a dry winter. Fortunately, this is what many long-range forecasts are predicting. Besides the direct loss of
forage, fences, cattle guards and other infrastructure has
been lost. Range staff estimate that
450 km of fencing was lost, while approximately 1,100 km of Crown range fencing in the fire zones will need to be inspected to determine their integrity. “They have to be inspected
on foot,” says Grilz. “In the past, we have overflown fences with a helicopter and things might look good from the air, but when you actually go up and kick the post, you could find it is burned below ground.” Even an ATV is too fast for the job, he says. A lack of infrastructure can
make a range with grass unusable. “We do not have an estimation on the losses of water developments or cattle guards,” says Grilz. “However, we have some initial reports from ranchers that water supply lines (plastic and aluminum) have melted with the fires and will have to be replaced.” Grilz says ministry staff will
work with tenure holders to identify range infrastructure destroyed by wildfire. Replacement is a provincial responsibility covered by Emergency Management BC and the federal-provincial Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangement (DFAA). Grilz says any tenure holders who had to abandon range due to wildfires are eligible for a reduction in
grazing fees. He encouraged producers who suspect they may be eligible for a reduced fee to contact local range staff. BC livestock producers may also be eligible for assistance under the 2017 Canada-British
Columbia Wildfires Recovery Initiative. Details on types of assistance available and application forms are online at [
http://bit.ly/2zjEmgf]. The deadline for applications is January 31, 2018.
New range, new challenge
Not all of the available rangeland in the province is under license. “Crown range tenure holders should contact their local
ministry range staff to discuss options for available Crown range,” says Perry Grilz, range director for the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, adding that the BC Cattlemens Association may be able to help ranchers access private grazing. Ranchers face may significant difficulties, however, if
they shift to alternative range. The first is access. Will cattle have to be trucked to the
new area? The second is familiarity. What is the lay of the land,
and are there any hazards? How are the cattle going to work it? The cattle will be unfamiliar with the landscape and won’t have an imprinted movement pattern. One rancher who was moving cows back into an area that he had not used as range for several years tracked down animals that he had sold to a neighbour so they could teach the rest of the herd the way up the mountain. Third, where is the grass and the water? Is it of a quality that will serve the herd well?
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