A Large Fire Database (LFDB), which includes information on fire location, start date, final size, cause, and suppression action, has been developed for all fires larger than 200 ha in area for Canada for the 1959–1997 period. The LFDB represents only 3.1% of the total number of Canadian fires during this period, the remaining 96.9% of fires being suppressed while <200 ha in size, yet accounts for ∼97% of the total area burned, allowing a spatial and temporal analysis of recent Canadian landscape‐scale fire impacts. On average ∼2 million ha burned annually in these large fires, although more than 7 million ha burned in some years. Ecozones in the boreal and taiga regions experienced the greatest areas burned, with an average of 0.7% of the forested land burning annually. Lightning fires predominate in northern Canada, accounting for 80% of the total LFDB area burned. Large fires, although small in number, contribute substantially to area burned, most particularly in the boreal and taiga regions. The Canadian fire season runs from late April through August, with most of the area burned occurring in June and July due primarily to lightning fire activity in northern Canada. Close to 50% of the area burned in Canada is the result of fires that are not actioned due to their remote location, low values‐at‐risk, and efforts to accommodate the natural role of fire in these ecosystems. The LFDB is updated annually and is being expanded back in time to permit a more thorough analysis of long‐term trends in Canadian fire activity.
Direct emissions of carbon from Canadian forest fires were estimated for all Canada and for each ecozone for the period 1959-1999. The estimates were based on a data base of large fires for the country and calculations of fuel consumption for each fire using
Cordy Tymstra3, Rob ~c~l~i n e~, Brad ~a w k e s~, Herman stegehuis6, Sherra ~u i n t i l i o~, Sylvie ~a u t h i e r~ and Karl peck9Sustainable forest management in many of Canada's forest ecosystems requires simultaneously miniizing the socioeconomic impacts of fire and maximizing its ecological benefits. A pragmatic approach to addressing these seemingly conflicting objectives is fire-smart forest management. This involves planning and conducting forest management and fire management activities in a fully integrated manner at both the stand and landscape levels. This paper describes the concept of fire-smart forest management, discusses its need and benefits, and explores challenges to effective implementation.Key words: forest fire management, fire-smart forest management, landscape fire assessment, sustainable forest management La pratique du d6veloppement durable clans plusieurs des kosystiimes forestiers du Canada doit minimiser des les impacts socio4conomiques des incendies de for& tout en maximisant leur effets bknkfiques sur le plan kcologique. Afin de rkaliser de concert ces deux objectifs qui semblent contradictoires, une approche pragmatique pourrait &re la solution: l'amknagement forestier intelli-feu (c.-8-d. fire-smart). Cette approche vise la planiflcation et la realisation des activitks d'amknagement forestier et de gestion des incendies de fa~on inGgr6e, tant au niveau des paysages qu'au niveau des peuplements. Cet article pr6sente le concept d'amtnagement forestier intelli-feu, sa nkcessit6 et ses avantages, ainsi que les dkfis qui se posent face 2 sa rnise en pratique.Mots-clb : am6nagement forestier durable, amknagement forestier intelli-feu, kvaluation des incendies au niveau du paysage, gestion des incendies de forst
The top priority of fire management agencies in Canada is to protect human life and property. Here we investigate if decades of aggressive fire suppression in the boreal biome of Canada has reduced the proportion of recently burned forests (RBF; <30 years) near human communities, and thereby inadvertently increased the risk of wildfire. We measured the percentage of RBF, which are usually less flammable than older forests, up to a 25-km radius around communities compared to that in the surrounding regional fire regime zone. Our analysis of 160 communities across boreal Canada shows that 54.4% exhibited a deficit or lack of RBF, whereas only 15.0% showed a surplus. Overall, a majority (74.4%) of communities are surrounded by a low (≤10%) proportion of RBF, indicating a higher vulnerability of those communities to wildfire. These findings suggest that suppression policies are increasing flammability in the wildland–urban interface of boreal Canada.
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