Historical Wildfire Regimes and Contemporary Wildfire Risk in Stswecem’c Xget’tem Territory

Wildfires are a complex and growing problem worldwide. In interior British Columbia, Canada, they are becoming larger, more frequent, and severe due to two centuries of settler land management and the impacts of climate change. Of the most affected by wildfire are rural Indigenous Peoples, as their communities are often surrounded by flammable forest and grassland fuels. Stswecem’c Xget’tem First Nation (SXFN) partnered with the University of British Columbia to co-generate western science on the past and present forests, fuel loads, and fire regimes close to their two communities. SXFN may use this knowledge in combination with their place-based multigenerational knowledge systems to lead forest stewardship that restores eco-cultural lands, adapts their Territory to climate change, and protects their communities and the lands and waters they rely on from severe wildfire.

Faculty Supervisor:

Lori Daniels

Student:

Partner:

Stswecem’c Xgat’tem Development Corporation

Discipline:

Earth science

Sector:

Public administration

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program: