Community Wildfire Protection Plan

The current Quesnel and Area Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP), which was published in 2018, will be completed by the end of 2024. The City of Quesnel, along with our project partners from: Ministry of Forests (MoF), Cariboo Regional District, Nazko First Nation, Lhtako First Nation, BC Wildfire Service (BCWS), BC Parks, West Fraser Mills, BC Timbers Sales, Rec Sites and Trails BC, along with local other tenure holders, have worked together on completing the current CWPP. It truly has been an “all hands on deck" approach!

Through the CWPP, the City has project managed ~485 hectares of fuel management activities on Crown land and assisted thousands of homeowners to FireSmart their properties. FireSmart is a very important part of our CWPP because over 60% of the land within the area is privately owned.

In 2024, we will begin planning for the Quesnel and Surrounding Area Community Wildfire Resiliency Plan (CWRP) that will be published in 2025. The new CWRP will articulate with the Three Rivers Community Forest land base, the MoF and BCWS Wildfire Risk Reduction Tactical Plan, and also the previous fuel management areas (through maintenance activities). This will ensure that the existing fuel management areas, along with the upcoming areas, will continue to build a cohesive fuel reduction strategy for Quesnel and area.

Currently, there are fuel management activities taking place at Dragon Bluff in the Wonderland Trail system, and also in an area below Pinnacles Park, called Baker Creek.

FireSmart 2024

The City’s FireSmart team will be on hand this spring and summer to distribute information and answer questions about how to coexist safely with wildfire and make our homes more defensible. This year, we will have information booths at the Home Trade Show, Quesnel Farmers' Market, Indigenous Day, and other local events. We will also be offering the home assessment and rebate service again this year.

Watch FireSmart BC’s preparedness campaign video.

Photo: The goats at the Fuel Management Trails in 2023

Fuel Management Goats

The City of Quesnel continues our unique pilot program with the Fuel Management Goats in 2024!

This spring and summer, we are enlisting the help of goats to graze on vegetation in the Fire Management Trail system. The City opened the three-kilometre trail network in 2021, within a fuel management demonstration forest, to educate residents about wildfire prevention and FireSmart.

Over the past few years, grass, brush, and invasive plants have grown up and the goats will help reduce this build-up in an environmentally friendly manner (instead of using herbicides or brush saws).

Learn more about what you can do to FireSmart.
Read more about the 2023 goat program. 

Red Cross Disaster Risk Reduction
Project Wraps up in 2024

The Red Cross and the City of Quesnel have partnered on various Disaster Risk Reduction activities since the 2017 wildfires. The Red Cross is committed to working with people and families in Canada to strengthen their resilience before, during, and after disasters. In 2023, the Red Cross and the City of Quesnel carried out a Door-to-Door Risk Reduction Campaign aimed to increase awareness of flood, wildfire, and extreme heat risks and support mitigative actions to help households reduce their risk and become better prepared for an emergency.

In the past couple of years, in partnership with the Red Cross, the City has participated in many community events including farmers’ markets, Indigenous Day, home and tradeshows, and many more. We’ve also hosted special events, like Movie Night in the Park on Canada Day in 2023, and the recent Support for Agricultural Producers FireSmart Workshop in January 2024.

Alternate Forest Harvesting Training Program

The City continues to develop a training school in Quesnel for alternate timber harvesting to enable new land management practices. In January 2024, Valhalla Equipment, the Ponsse dealer in Prince George, loaned the City their forwarder and single-grip harvester simulator for Quesnel students to train on this innovative technology over the next few months.

Local man Eli Rupp (photo below) completed 30 training modules on the forwarder simulator in January and is now working for Integrated Operations Group (IOG). Eli had experience with different types of logging machines, but this was his first time operating a forwarder. Check out Eli in his new “office’” in the photos below!

In February 2024, the Council of Forest Industries (COFI) and School District 28 partnered to bring 25 grade 10, 11, and 12 students to the Forestry Innovation Centre to learn on the forwarder simulator. This is part of the City’s rebranding of forestry to attract youth to the industry.

Read more abou the simulator in the Quesnel Cariboo Observer's article.