Introduction

The 2003 fire season in western North America, including the Lost Creek Fire, demonstrated rural community vulnerability to wildfire. Alberta Sustainable Resource Development (SRD) has recognized this threat for some time, and is implementing a strategy to reduce fire hazard in wildland urban interface zones within its jurisdiction. The goal of this strategy is to reduce fire intensity to a level that allows suppression, thus minimizing loss and increasing public safety.

An important step toward limiting fire intensity is to manage the amount and types of forest fuels that surround communities. We refer to this strategy as fuel management and it is widely accepted as part of the FireSmart Program (Partners in Protection, 2003). The FireSmart Manual provides the framework but specific treatment for local objectives need to be considered. These objectives might include cost, long term impacts, maintenance, effectiveness and community sensitivities. Managing forest stands for fuel reduction must be done with consideration for silvicultural principles. Prominent issues are long term stand dynamics (and resulting maintenance needs), insect and disease attack, and windthrow hazard.

The Lost Creek fuel management research project is a cooperative initiative between Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, FERIC, and the Foothills Model Forest to study the effectiveness of fuel management treatements. The research will be done on sites identified within the Crowsnest Community Zone FireSmart Plan. The primary research sites are the White Zone area northeast of the Coleman in Twp 8 - Rge 5 - W5M (see figure below), and at the West Castle ski resort.

The project objectives for the Lost Creek Fuel Management Research are to:

• Quantify forest fuel inventory and fuel management costs.
• Model potential fire behavior using above inventory
• Monitor local stand health and dynamics for 5 years following initial harvesting.
  

Fuel management Prescriptions

1. Mature Pine/Spruce (C2/C3))
   Three treatments are planned for this cover type.
   
   • 2 metre inter-crown spacing (individual stems).
   • Thinning from below and understory removal.
   • Patch retention (following FireSmart guidelines).
     
2. Douglas Fir/Lodgepole Pine (C7)
   The planned treatment is to create an open stand similar to those that were common prior to European settlement (aka Douglas fir ecosystem restoration). The treatment is compatible with FireSmart as the inter-crown spacing will be a minimum of 3 metres.
   
3. Mature Mixedwood (M1)
   These stands are a mixture of veteran and juvenile Douglas fir, aspen, dense clusters of lodgepole pine and small openings. Priorities will be to remove surface fuel, understory and ladder fuels leaving the fir and aspen. The pine clusters will be thinned to 2 metre inter-crown spacing.
   
4. Juvenile pine (C4)
   This is a small stand (approximately 15 years old) but presents an opportunity to demonstrate fuel management at different stages of stand development. The prescription will be to thin down to 400 stems/ha, prune to 2 metres, and dispose of ground fuels.
   
   
   

Documents:

Lost Creek Operations Research Progress Report  2/22/2008

Lost Creek Fire Operations Research  2/28/2007