FILE PHOTO - Penticton Indian band councillor Tim Lezard poses beside a charred tree in a well-managed section of forest, as he was part of a team that executed a prescribed burn there four months earlier. The tree is healthy as its bark has evolved to withstand the heat from low-intensity burns.

(DAN WALTON / iNFOnews.ca)

The province has announced several new amendments to the Forest and Range Practices Act, the Forest Act and the Wildfire Act that will make prescribed fire a verified firefighting tool.

Prescribed burns have historically been used by First Nations as a stewardships tool to remove fire fuel, clear animal migratory paths and maintain healthy forests. However, due to heavy restrictions and difficult venting requirements, prescribed burns have been notoriously difficult to carry out in modern times.

READ MORE: Westbank First Nation wants to return to prescribed burning

Amendments to the Wildfire Act will give prescribed cultural burns legal standing as a province-verified forest management tool.

This will enable the province to work more closely with First Nations groups on wildfire mitigation work, in turn advancing prescribed burns as an accepted practice.

“Prescribed burning is the planned and controlled application of fire to a specific land area to reduce wildfire risk, and restore ecosystems that need fire to function,” Bruce Ralston, Minister of Forests, said in the press release issued Monday, Oct. 30. “This change will make it easier for the province to work with First Nations as partners to return beneficial fire to the landscape as a way to keep communities safe and care for critical ecosystems."

READ MORE: McDougall Creek wildfire crews shift from lighting fires to mopping them up

The proposed amendments to all three acts will address First Nations’ interests in how forests are managed. They will also give the provincial government “new tools” to manage Crown land and timber harvesting, in an effort to look after BC forests in the face of climate change.

“Forests are essential to a healthy environment and provide good jobs to tens of thousands of British Columbians,” Ralston said. “That’s why we’re taking action to strengthen how we steward our natural resources, to better protect the province’s forests and ecosystems.”

According to the press release, changes to the Forest and Range Practices Act promise protection of First Nations values and interests. It will also provide "new tools to the Ministry of Forests compliance and enforcement team to better enforce natural resource laws in the province."

"Changes to the Forest and Range Practices Act specifically as they relate to prescribed and cultural burning are critical pieces in restoring wildlife populations and safeguarding communities," Okanagan resident and executive director of the BC Wildlife Federation Jesse Zeman said on Twitter.

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