Wildfire Risk Assessment for the Southern Gulf Islands

Forest fire risk modeling is a new and rapidly developing approach to managing the threat of wildfire to British Columbia communities. The demand for forest fire risk assessment technology is growing rapidly in British Columbia due to the increasing number and extent of forest fires as well as the rapid expansion of residential housing in rural areas. The Gulf Islands National Park Reserve Fire Risk Assessment Project is developing a model that will identify the areas where fires are most likely to start and most likely to cause damage (both to endangered ecosystems and to human values). It will also serve to answer management questions by showing the impact on risk levels of various management decisions. Once areas of high forest fire risk have been identified, fire prevention and fire suppression resources can be allocated. Custom modeling software will be developed within a GIS software environment to generate the risk ratings.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Ken Lertzman

Student:

Matthew Tutsch

Partner:

Parks Canada

Discipline:

Resources and environmental management

Sector:

Forestry

University:

Simon Fraser University