Palmer Project focused on treating extensive burned lodgepole pine stands in the Chilcotin

For nearly a decade, Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd, (CCR) has been implementing large-scale, Indigenous-led forest management programs and initiatives.

With funding support from the Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC) they have expanded their forest rehabilitation work, delivering innovative treatments that are making local forests in the Chilcotin more resilient to climate change and losses from wildfires.

One of CCR’s project involving fire salvage and ecosystem restoration is called “the Palmer Project” located along Palmer Lake Road in the Cariboo Chilcotin heavily impacted by wildfires in 2017.

“We’re helping Mother Nature recover,” CEO of Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation and elected Councilor of Tsi Del Del First Nation Percy Guichon stated, “and we are showing what is possible when Indigenous communities take the lead in the planning and implementation of the work.”

Since the devastating 2017 Plateau wildfire, the objectives of the Palmer Project sought to address some of the large scale, post wildfire challenges.

They applied some lessons learned from their previous experience reclaiming damaged stands in the Pressy Lake area to treat or remove fire killed trees in the Palmer Lake area.

“From the outset, our focus was on finding innovative ways to utilize this stranded fire resource,” Registered Professional Forester and CCR’s Forestry Superintendent, Daniel Persson said, “turning what is currently a liability on the landscape into long-term economic opportunity. If we can solve the operational and economic challenges of recovering and using this material, it has the potential to create sustained employment and predictable forestry work for CCR partner communities for many years.”

The Palmer Project focuses on treating extensive burned lodgepole pine stands.

Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation said recovering and utilizing fire-damaged fibre at sufficient volumes was essential to making the treatment economically viable while supporting rehabilitation objectives.

At the same time, CCR noted addressing the burnable materials at this scale across the landscape presented a significant opportunity to implement landscape-level fire management strategies, expanding defensibility, reducing reburn potential and influencing how future wildfire interacts with the broader land base.

Currently more than 1,500 hectares have been rehabilitated and around 200,000 cubic metres of wood fibre have been recovered from both Pressy Lake and Palmer projects.

CCR said the wood fibre from burnt trees has been transported either to pulp mills or bioenergy facilities supporting these operations at a time of scarcity of wood fibre.

“The Palmer Project has supported Nation-led employment and generated roughly $14 million in product revenue that flows back into jobs. This equates to about 45 people working full-time for one year across operations, forestry, supervision and administration,” Persson said.