On the Availability of Canadian Proceedings from the Interior West Fire Council Conferences[1]
The Interior West Fire Council (IWFC) resulted from an amalgamation of the former Intermountain Fire Council and Rocky Mountain Fire Council in 1988. The principal reason for these councils to exist was for the betterment of wildland fire management through participation in a central forum involving its member organizations. The IWFC currently includes membership from government agencies, private organizations, universities and technical institutions in nine western U.S. states (Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming), two Canadian provinces (Alberta and Saskatchewan) and Canada’s Northwest Territories.
The next annual meeting and workshop of the IWFC will take place in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, November 8-10, 2004, with the theme Wildfire Issues – The Common Challenges. Details of the program can be found on the IWFC website (http://www.interiorwestfirecouncil.org/IWFC_Brochure2004.pdf).
This year’s conference marks the fifth time that the IWFC has held its annual meeting and workshop within the Canadian zone of the Council; two previous workshops of the former Intermountain Fire Council had been held in Alberta in 1978 (Quintilio 1979) and 1983 (Dubé 1985). The very first annual meeting and workshop of the IWFC was held at Kananaskis Village, Alberta, October 24-27, 1988, with the theme The Art and Science of Fire Management (Alexander and Bisgrove 1990). The fifth IWFC annual meeting and workshop was held in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, October 27-29, 1992, with the theme Managing Fire Dependent Ecosystems: Options and Technologies (Duncan et al. 1994). The ninth IWFC annual meeting and workshop was held in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, October 21-24, 1996, with the theme Fire in Ecosystem Management: Operational Realities (no proceedings were produced for this conference). The 13th IWFC annual meeting and workshop was held in Edmonton, Alberta, October 3-5, 2000, with a theme of People, Ecosystems and Wildland Fires -- Working in Harmony (Alexander et al. 2000).
Hard copies of four of the publications mentioned here (i.e., Quintilio 1979; Dubé 1985; Alexander and Bisgrove 1990; Alexander and others 2000) are available (as long as supplies last) for free by ordering through the Canadian Forest Service On-line Bookstore at: http://bookstore.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/default.htm
The publication by Alexander and others (2000) is also available for downloading from the IWFC website (http://www.interiorwestfirecouncil.org/).
References
Alexander, M.E.; Bisgrove, G.F. (technical coordinators). 1990. The art and science of fire management. Proceedings of the First Interior West Fire Council annual meeting and workshop, October 24-27, 1988, Kananaskis Village, Alberta. Forestry Canada, Northern Forestry Centre, Edmonton, Alberta. Information Report NOR-X-309. 333 pp.
Alexander, M.E.; Driscoll, D.; Heathcott, M.; George, E. (technical coordinators). 2000. People, ecosystems and wildland fires -- working in harmony. Abstracts and program of the 2000 Interior West Fire Council, annual meeting and workshop held October 3-5 in Edmonton, Alberta. Environment, Land and Forest. Service, Forest Protection Division and Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Northern Forest Centre, Edmonton, Alberta. 67 pp.
Dubé, D.E. (compiler). 1985. Proceedings of the Intermountain Fire Council 1983 Fire Management Workshop, October 25-27, 1983, Banff, Alberta. Canadian Forestry Service, Northern Forest Research Centre, Edmonton, Alberta. Information Report NOR-X-271. 93 pp.
Duncan, T.A.; Forster, W.A.D.; Lanoville, R.A. (compilers). 1994. Managing fire dependent ecosystems: options and technologies. Proceedings from 1992 Interior West Fire Council annual meeting, October 27-29, 1992, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Government of Northwest Territories, Fort Smith, Northwest Territories. 95 pp.
Quintilio, D. (compiler). 1979. Proceedings of the International Fire Management Workshop, October 31-November 1, 1978, Edmonton, Alberta. Canadian Forestry Service, Northern Forest Research Centre, Edmonton, Alberta. Inf. Rep. NOR-X-215. 89 pp.