Covenants and Emergencies

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Covenants and Emergencies

• The Effect of the Galiano Fire on the Heritage
  Forest Covenant

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Background

• Heritage Forest
• Established by bylaw in 2000 due to pressure to
  develop forest lands
• Landowners donate to heritage forest in exchange
  for increased density
• Land donated to a community organization and
  covenanted for sustainable forestry
• Owner Galiano Club
• Covenantees Galiano Conservancy HAT

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Unique Covenant

• Working covenant Allows for forestry
• Good area for community recreation
• Allows for affordable housing use
• Land not pristine
• Heavily logged in several passes
• Restoration / forest management required

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Before the Fire

• Covenant
• Registered Dec 2005
• (8 months before fire)
• Baseline
• Completed July 2006
• (weeks before fire)

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Baseline

• Land is heavily logged
• Existing forest is 3rd
• growth
• Small patches of mature
• forest
• 2 streams
• Georgia Strait shoreline

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Fire! Fire!

• July 23, 2006 fire started
• High winds allowed fire to grow/spread
• Local volunteer fire departments could not
  contain the blaze
• BC Forest Service called in

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Emergency!

• STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED
• 119 local residents evacuated
• 46 firefighters from Coast Fire Centre
• Volunteer firefighters from Galiano other
  islands
• 2 Mars Water Bombers, several helicopters brought
  in

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State of Emergency

• Emergency
• A present or imminent event or circumstance that
• is caused by accident, fire, explosion, technical
  failure or by the forces of nature, and
• requires prompt coordination of action or special
  regulation of persons or property to protect the
  health, safety or welfare of a person or to limit
  damage to property.

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Authority over Emergencies

• Declared by
• Minister
• Lieutenant Governor
• Local authority (for local emergencies)

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Process of Emergency

• Emergency must be identified
• Details of emergency must be published or
  communicated
• Emergency expires after 14 days

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Powers of Minister

• Under a state of emergency the Minister can
• Implement an emergency plan
• Acquire or use private land and personal property
• Control travel and evacuate people, animals
  property
• Demolish or remove trees, structure or crops
• Construct works
• Ration supplies
• Emergency Program Act RSBC 1996

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Forest Fires

• Minister can
• Declare an emergency
• Enter onto land
• Investigate cause of the fire
• Evacuate people
• Wildfire Act SBC 2004

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Forest Health

• Forest Range
• Practices Act
• Forest Health Emergency

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After the Fire

• 30 hectares of covenant area burned
• Several logging roads opened by firefighters
• New areas disturbed to create fireguards
• Damage to streambeds

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Landowner Obligations

• Owners Obligations
• Owner is not liable for
• injury or alteration to the Land or the Amenities
  resulting from natural causes or causes beyond
  the Owners reasonable control, including
  accidental fire, flood, storm, theft, vandalism,
  trespass and earth movement unless such injury or
  alteration results or is the consequence of the
  act of the Owner or any person acting with actual
  or constructive knowledge of the Owner or
• any prudent action taken by the Owner under
  emergency conditions to prevent, abate, or
  mitigate significant injury to the Land or the
  Amenities resulting from natural process, acts of
  God, or from natural events including fire,
  flood, storms and earth movement.
• (taken from Heritage Forest covenant)

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Rehabilitation

• Forest Service required to rehabilitate damage
  they caused
• Rehabilitation done in collaboration with
  landowner
• Generally involves putting back soil seeding
  with grass

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Collaboration

• Forest Service / Owner / Covenantees
• What roads should be kept open?
• What kind of grass seed?
• What else could they do?
• Stream work?
• Broom removal?
• Erosion Control
• Communication?

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Reducing Erosion
Typical Mix (from MoF) Garry oak Mix
18 Tall fescue 19 Sheep fescue 18 Orchardgrass 5 Annual ryegrass 15 Timothy 13 S.C. Red clover 9 White clover 3 Alsike clover 40 Alaska brome 10 Idaho fescue 25 Blue wildrye 10 Tufted hairgrass 10 Western fescue 5 Sandburg bluegrass
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Stream work

• Stabilization of stream banks
• Adding structure
• Removal of inappropriate culverts

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Broom Removal?
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Future

• Management Plan
• Restoration
• Volunteer Workcrews
• Potential Partnerships
• Forestry!

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Conclusions?

• Contact authority in control early on
• Develop good working relationship
• Offer to help
• Baseline report mapping
• Knowledge of land mapping capabilities
• Logistical help (lodging, food, etc)
• Be sensitive to the job at hand
• Work well with post-emergency contractors
• Be prepared to pick up the pieces

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For More Information
Ken Millard Coordinator Galiano Conservancy
Association [phone] galiano_conservancy_at_gul
fislands.com Kate Emmings Land Finance
Officer Habitat Acquisition Trust (HAT) (250)
995-2428 kate_at_hat.bc.ca