Jennifer Gunter

A two-day conference focused on wildfire preparedness, management and recovery took place in Williams Lake this week. “We have about 79 attendees from throughout the province who include community forest managers, provincial government staff and researchers,” said Stephanie Ewen, manager of the Alex Fraser Research Forest. …On Tuesday, a draft protocol agreement between the BC Wildfire Service, woodlot licences and community forest agreement holders was released at the conference. …BC Community Forest Association executive director Jennifer Gunter said community forests are very motivated to be engaged in wildfire management and mitigation trying to protect their communities and also manage forests in a way that brings back resiliency. “We want to lay out a framework that community forests and woodlots can use in communication with the fire centre staff in their zone,” Gunter said.