When it comes to reforesting areas made bare by natural causes, it’s the Ministry of Forests’ job to oversee the progress.
“Wildfire...really is the biggest thing we’re focusing on,” said Shelley Barlow, the ministry’s regional silviculture specialist for the Cariboo.
As forestry companies are obligated to reforest the areas they harvest, the ministry need only focus on areas which are naturally denuded, that is, areas stripped of their trees as a result of natural occurrences such as wildfire, pests, diseases or strong winds.
It's also the ministry’s responsibility to reforest areas which continue to be denuded from a time when harvesters were not obligated to replant what they cut. Few of these sites remain, in fact, Barlow said there are none left in the Cariboo.
In the Cariboo, the impact of wildfires, especially as of late, has been the biggest concern when it comes to the natural loss of trees.
According to a February 2018 report by the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, 80 per cent of the area affected by the 2017 wildfires in B.C. was in the Cariboo. About one million hectares of forests were burnt in the region, and 609,000 of those hectares were part of the Cariboo's timber harvesting land base.
Prior to 2017, the ministry was planting up to two million trees per year in the Williams Lake forestry district. Since then, Barlow said this number has at least tripled.
By January 2019, rehabilitation had already been completed for 26 sites in the Cariboo region, including in response to the Kleena Kleene fire which burned 25,558 hectares.
Human intervention is not always necessary, however – wildfires are, after all, a natural process. In fact, Barlow said planting programs are just a small part of ecosystem recovery.
“We leave room to make sure nature can regenerate itself,” she said, explaining the ministry only replants trees if regeneration is unlikely or unsuccessful over time.
Forest stands mostly occupied by young trees, as well as stands which have been severely burned, are less likely to regenerate on their own. And when natural threats to forests become increasingly unpredictable and their frequency is extreme, it’s important to help forests regrow so ecosystems and wildlife habitats can recover, and to secure a future supply of timber.
When the ministry does look at reforesting an area, it first considers how it can be most successful.
“We do a very detailed ecosystem assessment to identify what's possible,” Barlow explained.
Models are used to determine the best approach to reforestation, helping the ministry select tree species best suited for an area according to what conditions are likely to be like in the future. Some factors to consider are the potential for wildfires, pest outbreaks and whether the climate is expected to be dry or moist.
“The science is getting better and better every day...(but) the kicker on all of this is that it’s often the extremes that we have to manage for,” Barlow said. While models usually predict more of an average of future conditions, foresters often have to think outside of the models to account for a tree's suitability in extreme conditions.
The chosen species to plant will vary from one ecosystem to another as well as with the threats posed by climate change, Barlow said, but one tree which is more commonly seen in replanting today is Douglas fir.
“We’re putting in the extra effort to establish them,” Barlow said, explaining Douglas firs can be difficult to establish, but the challenge is worth it due to their resilience to pests and wildfires.
Partnerships are also essential to reforestation practices, and Barlow said work with First Nation communities has grown over the last few years into strong partnerships.
The majority of the ministry’s reforestation projects are funded by the Forest Investment Program (FIP) which contributes about $95 million annually to maintaining healthy and resilient forests in B.C. Since the program’s creation in 2021, over 40 million trees have been planted every year in B.C. In the last three years, the ministry has funded just under $19 million in reforestation projects through FIP.
Among those who have received funding from FIP to help reforest the Cariboo is Cariboo Carbon Solutions, which from 2018 to 2022 conducted reforestation in the Quesnel, Williams Lake and 100 Mile House forest districts following the 2017 wildfires. It entered another agreement with FIP in 2022 for reforestation projects in the Quesnel and Williams Lake Districts, and has worked with partners such as the Forest Enhancement Society and the Yunesit’in Government.
