A benchland overlooking B.C.’s Chilcotin River is an ideal location to recreate an historic forest landscape from the region’s past. It was an ecosystem of grasslands interspersed with groups of trees and it reflected how much of the region once appeared.
A group of First Nations Forest companies are working to re-establish the diversity of yesterday’s landscape while making the forest better equipped to survive the more devastating wildfires predicted, as global warming conditions intensify.
The Chilcotin Plateau lies west of the Fraser River near Williams Lake in British Columbia’s Cariboo region. The Chilcotin’s pastiche of forest, grasslands and lakes extends west across the belly of the Interior toward the Coast Mountains and the Pacific Ocean.
The back to the future forest landscape initiative had a baptism of fire. The forest fire season of 2017 won’t soon be forgotten in the Cariboo-Chilcotin. It began early in the spring and persisted well into fall. In the interim, the fires caused incalculable damage on many levels. Two major wildfires changed the Chilcotin River valley that year. The Hanceville-Riske Creek wildfire—which the B.C. Wildfire Service believes was the result of a single lightning strike northwest of 100 Mile House in May—had consumed more than 240,000 hectares by July. The Plateau complex, where several smaller blazes combined forces to create a megafire northwest of Williams Lake, was burning across more than 450,000 hectares by August 2017.
The decision was taken to replant the burned area near the Chilcotin River in 2021. But the elements hadn’t finished creating their havoc.
“That was the heat dome year,” reminds Daniel Persson, forestry superintendent with Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd (CCR) based in Williams Lake. The heat dome recorded temperatures approaching 45 degrees Celsius and wiped out about 95 per cent of the newly planted seedlings, continues Persson.
CCR is a joint venture company owned by Tŝideldel First Nation, Tl’etinqox Government, and Yunesit’in Government. “Our focus is to coordinate and implement large scale forestry programs and initiatives within our traditional territories to provide sustained economic opportunities for our communities and to ensure the long-term sustainability of our traditional forest land base,” explains CCR’s website.
The Hanceville Project overlooking the Chilcotin River occupies approximately 275 hectares and supported a primarily Douglas fir forest prior to the 2017 wildfires. Persson says the area has inherent challenges to successful replanting strategies. It’s exposed with south facing slopes with compacted soils in a concave landscape.
That’s why we are trying a new approach with the objective of minimal soil disturbance while still being able to establish trees that mimic a more historical stand with a clumpy tree distribution that is resilient toward wildfire,” describes Persson.
An additional factor enters the Hanceville Project’s considerations.
Cows. Ranching is a traditional Chilcotin industry with a rich history.
The historic Chilco Ranch, founded in the 1860’s, sits adjacent to the project’s site. CCR wanted to ensure the movement of cattle on the range wouldn’t be unduly impacted by the ground ripping project. Persson says after listening to area cattlemen, CCR opted to rip the land in a pattern that allow cow movement through the area while we still achieve our clumpy distribution of trees. Cattle—like people—will typically follow the course of least resistance when using an area.
Barring future developments, plans were to replant the site in the fall of 2024. The block is not subject to stocking standards. It allows for the planting of fewer stems per hectare, helpful in achieving the tree clump-grasslands mix sought to better replicate the Chilcotin from the past.
Disc scarification gives trees a head start
Not all planting sites in B.C.’s Chilcotin region are created equal. Each one suitable for site preparation prior to re-planting has specific characteristics and approaches for achieving the best results. The team at Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation (CCR) has learned first-hand which techniques work best and where. It’s one of CCR’s specialties.
For example, the Williams Lake-based company has successfully applied disc scarifying treatments to mixed Douglas fir/pine stands in the region and created vigorous young forest growth in the process.
The company’s method uses a John Deere 748 GIII skidder to pull shaped mechanical discs positioned to alter the soil’s structure and composition. The process can deliver several advantages. The rotating scarifying discs improve soil aeration, redistributes compact soil and aids nutrient distribution. The result is creation of a planting micro site to provide tree seedlings (or seeds) with a head start during the critical period of establishment.
“The effectiveness of disc scarification depends on careful monitoring and flexible management,” explains Phillipe Theriault, an advisor to CCR. “We consistently evaluate soil conditions, vegetation growth and ecological feedback to adjust our approach. This ensures that our methods support the broader objectives of sustainable forest management,” he concludes.
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