Climate change and fire management research strategy

In February 2009, the Future Forest Ecosystems Scientific Council of British Columbia, Parks Canada and the BC Ministry of Forests and Range Wildfire Management Branch sponsored a three-day Climate Change and Fire Management Research Strategy Forum in Victoria, BC, to identify knowledge gaps related to wildfire management and climate change, and to recommend priorities for research. [...] THE CLIMATE CHANGE AND FIRE MANAGEMENT RESEARCH STRATEGY FORUM In February 2009, the Future Forest Ecosystems Scientific Council of British Columbia, Parks Canada and the BC Ministry of Forests and Range Wildfire Management Branch sponsored a three-day Climate Change and Fire Management Research Strategy Forum in Victoria, BC. [...] Currently, fire management agencies use historical data to plan resources in advance of each fire season and to anticipate what will be needed in the future – and this information may become less reliable with a changing climate There is a great need to quantify the potential impact of climate change on fire suppression to help with this planning, and to identify future requirements early enough t [...] Other considerations include looking for ways to index the smoke impact to the allowable annual cut to show how harvesting and subsequent treatment can reduce smoke effects; to help to determine the long-term health impacts of increased smoke exposure over the next 20 years; and to produce a quantitative model of fire emissions and smoke effects for British Columbia.