Province introduces new fire prevention strategy

The province has introduced new measures to control forest fires in Ontario.
Further details are included in the following news release and backgrounder issued today by the Ministry of Natural Resources:
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The Ontario government is introducing a new forest fire management strategy to ensure safe and prosperous communities, Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay announced today.

“As the 2004 forest fire season approaches, we are gearing up to safeguard against wildfire,” said Ramsay.

“Our new forest fire management strategy is an important step forward in taking a more balanced approach to forest fires and making Ontario a world leader in forest fire management.”

The new strategy will continue to focus on protecting human life, property and natural resources against the threats of wildfire, while also emphasizing the positive effects of fire as a management tool in achieving ecological objectives.

Under the new strategy, several forest management units north of Highway 11 will receive more protection. The strategy also gives Ontario’s resource managers greater flexibility in responding to fires while ensuring public safety remains paramount, and recognizes the natural role of fire in the environment by allowing fire to be used to reduce hazards and accomplish ecological goals. For example, it promotes the use of prescribed fire to restore ecosystems or to reduce hazards in areas where trees have blown down.

The former fire management strategy, prepared 15 years ago, no longer reflects the changing demands and complex land uses and plans that have developed in Ontario since then. The new strategy is consistent with a commitment made in the Ontario Forest Accord to increase levels of fire protection for developing forest management areas. It’s available on the ministry’s website here.

“As we prepare for the fire season, the public’s co-operation in using fire wisely and safely around their properties, or elsewhere, and in complying with fire advisories is invaluable,” said Ramsay.

“The public can help us ensure that we have safe and vital communities with a quality of life that is second to none.”

ONTARIO IMPLEMENTS NEW FOREST FIRE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

A new Forest Fire Management Strategy was developed, in part, as a response to an extensive land use planning exercise in the mid-1990s. The exercise focused on providing for a stable social and business environment, promoting and protecting natural heritage, supporting resource-based tourism and supporting increased investment in forest management.

As a result, the new fire management strategy is based on a number of strategic objectives, including the following:
• ensuring public safety;
• protecting wood supply;
• promoting fire’s role in the ecosystem;
• enhancing partnerships and agreements;
• promoting public education and prevention; and
• managing fire response and associated business matters.

Under the new strategy, protection will be increased for several forest management areas north of Highway 11. The strategy provides direction on how to manage fire to protect public safety, property and natural resources, while allowing flexibility to let fire play a natural role in ecosystems.

It better recognizes the part that fire plays on Ontario’s landscape, and reflects resource management and land use objectives. In addition, it allows for a greater role for natural and prescribed fire within larger parks and protected areas, as well as allowing the use of fire to meet silvicultural and hazard reduction objectives. Examples of this include modified fire suppression under controlled conditions in low risk areas and prescribed burns in blowdown areas.

The new strategy is the product of a consultation process that involved the public, interest groups, First Nations, partners and major stakeholders. The new strategy replaces the previous strategies developed in the 1980s, and calls for the increased use of sophisticated ways to steer and control fires.