De-risk the Shore - North Shore Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) - Current Approach

Please join us for a presentation on the current municipal approach to protect our extensive forestry areas and address wild fire risks across the north shore (West Vancouver and North Vancouver).

Bruce Blackwell will present his firms approach to protect the shore which has been locally enacted by municipalities

1    Current status / Risk Levels - projection of risk levels based on current approach / consideration for improvement to approach

2    Expectation of Municipality and Coordination with Municipal Emergency Response - is Chain of Command established or hampered by municipal boundaries, and or large multi nation companies or service authories BC Hydro, CN Rail, Metro Van, TransLink, Gas Pipe Lines, Transmountain etc etc who has the right and responsibility for response involving multiple stake holders

3    Damage from past events such as Heat Dome or past local fires - improving conditions or worsening conditions – Global climate trends impacting risk

4    Effective response to control wildfires - best practices- whats new in approach

5    Take aways - Best practices for Muncipalities, and other authority stakeholders, as well as some minor practical advice for homeowners.

Speaker Bio

Bruce Blackwell

M.Sc., RPF, R.P.Bio. - Principal

Bruce has more than 30 years experience as a Professional Forester and Biologist primarily focused in fire and forest ecology, wildland/urban interface planning, forest policy and practice audits and reviews. 

Bruce is considered a provincial expert in fire and fuels management and has managed numerous innovative projects related to fire risk identification and mitigation for both the public and private sector. He has provided expert opinion testimony and numerous interviews on the topic of wildfire in BC. Bruce assisted the Firestorm 2003 Review Team in the development of recommendations on forest management and policy to mitigate the risk of catastrophic fires in the wildland/urban interface of BC. He has also applied his expertise in developing numerous wildfire community protection plans and wildfire risk assessments, risk management systems, fuel treatment prescriptions, and fire management plans.

Bruce has an extensive background in forest management policy development, strategic planning, management and research with over 25 published and peer reviewed reports to his credit.