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Pressy Lake Pilot Project Models Revitalizing Fire-impacted Forests

CentralCR

By Joe Webster and Daniel Persson, RPF

Fire-damaged wood on site of the 2017 Elephant Hill wildfire. Photo credit: Tiffany Christianson/CCR
Fire-damaged wood on site of the 2017 Elephant Hill wildfire. Photo credit: Tiffany Christianson/CCR

In November 2023, the Pressy Lake Pilot Project near 70 Mile in the Cariboo region of BC was launched to rehabilitate fire-damaged forests with the aim of utilizing dead fibre from older burnt areas while enhancing fire resiliency for the future. Only a small portion of the Elephant Hill fire from 2017 that burnt 191,865 hectares was ever salvaged for sawlogs due to the time-consuming process of getting approved cutting permits before sawlog values are too far gone. All major licensees abandoned their sawlog salvage initiatives in the area at the end of 2019 due to the limited sawlog value left after two years of natural decomposition. In 2023, Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd. (CCR) took on the challenge and opportunity of harvesting 560 hectares solely for biomass products to help bring incremental residual fibre to secondary producers such as pulp, pellets, and bioenergy facilities.


The harvesting was initiated to help offset the significant fibre shortage that is happening throughout the province right now, while still achieving long-term wildfire resiliency and forest stewardship objectives. In the Cariboo region alone, more than a million hectares have burned in the past 10 years. Only a fraction of this area was ever utilized. Burnt fibre is typically not used for pulp due to the damage in the fibre and the higher char content. Pressy Lake did prove the utilization of burnt stands for pulp is a real solution to bridge the fibre shortage for secondary fibre users while sawmills are currently producing less or shutting down.


Goals of the Pilot Project

The pilot project was designed with multi-layered goals: to clear the forest of fire-impacted debris, to utilize the dead fibre while retaining all the live trees, to rehabilitate the land for future reforestation, and ultimately, to enhance the resilience of the local ecosystem against future wildfires. The initiative also aimed to protect the nearby communities of Green Lake and Watch Lake, and the Pressy Lake recreation site by reducing the available fuel loads that could intensify future fires. The business case was to get revenue from the biomass sold to secondary mills while Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC) funding helped offset the deficit at the end of the trial. Roughly, the proportion of funds from biomass sold and FESBC funding was four to one. This is comparable with FESBC’s normal incremental haul program that helps offset costs to help bring residual fibre to the market. Thanks to this help from FESBC, our team will be able to haul up to 1,000 truckloads of biomass, roughly 50,000 m3 , created from this project alone.


Executive director of CCR and Councillor of Tŝideldel First Nation, Percy Guichon, inspecting the Pressy Lake site with Nen Coordinator, Tl'etinqox Government, Garry Stump. Photo credit: Tiffany Christianson/CCR.
Executive director of CCR and Councillor of Tŝideldel First Nation, Percy Guichon, inspecting the Pressy Lake site with Nen Coordinator, Tl'etinqox Government, Garry Stump. Photo credit: Tiffany Christianson/CCR.

Rehabilitation through Reforestation

For our team at CCR, it is important to focus not just on clearing the debris and finding value in the residual fibre but also on rehabilitating the land to make way for future forests. The final step of the rehabilitation of the area and ensuring a forest grows back is to plant trees where they are needed. In 2024, almost 200,000 trees were planted to make sure the area grows back into a forest.


Each tree planter covered an incredible amount of terrain, planting roughly 2,500 to 3,500 trees each day. Douglas fir and lodgepole pine were selected for their adaptability to the local climate and for restoring the natural forest structure and ecological balance. We expect to plant more trees this year after regeneration surveys have determined where they are needed.


Trees play a critical role in water retention and soil stability, especially in burnt areas. The Chilcotin river landslide in August 2024 was a good example of soil stability effects after a fire. The newly planted trees will help stabilize the soil, prevent erosion, and maintain the area's hydrological balance. As these trees grow, they will also begin to sequester carbon, contributing to the fight against climate change while simultaneously helping to restore the land.


Benefits and Impact

CCR's Pressy Lake Pilot Project not only demonstrates respect for the land but also showcases the potential of using forestry techniques in an innovative manner to transform what is often considered waste into valuable resources. By doing so, we have not only adhered to Indigenous principles of ensuring nothing goes to waste but have also highlighted the inherent value in all aspects of the forest, even in its most damaged state. The successful conversion of burned wood into biomass products and the strategic reforestation of appropriate native species will help pave the way for the regeneration of what we hope will be a robust, resilient forest. These efforts ensure the land can continue to sustain and nurture future generations, providing a model for forestry that respects and incorporates Indigenous wisdom and environmental stewardship.


Since its beginning in November 2023, the project has also benefitted the economy of the surrounding communities by creating jobs and subsequently — because of those jobs — the workers have further contributed to the economy by utilizing local services like fuel depots, hotels, and restaurants. The project has also supplied fibre to Kruger Inc., a paper-based manufacturer with over 2,000 employees in Canada, which benefited the biomass industry at a time when fibre scarcity was a challenge. According to the Ministry of Forests “Forest Economic Multipliers”, this project has generated the following benefits to the economy by providing 50,000 m3 of incremental fibre to market:

We also ensured we employed locals, thus supporting job creation and boosting the local economy engaging local contractors like Torrent Silviculture, as an example.


Learnings and Next Steps

At the start of the trial, we faced significant challenges with breakage and extra processing costs to sort out scorched fibre. However, after a few weeks, our skilled operators figured out how to handle the brittleness and burn variability. Their innovation and tenacity allowed the project to continue, leading to overall success. Today we can say with confidence the project achieved all the goals we set. It also taught us a lot we will be able to apply to the next project.


With funding support from NRCan, tree planters have planted almost 200,000 trees this year. Photo credit: Tiffany Christianson/CCR.
With funding support from NRCan, tree planters have planted almost 200,000 trees this year. Photo credit: Tiffany Christianson/CCR.

We understand burnt stands have an important ecosystem function, but the mega wildfires are on a new scale. They burn hundreds of thousands of hectares at a time, and we need to find ways to co-exist with this new reality. There is harvesting happening in healthy stands, while there is minimal activity in devastated fire stands.


We need to ask ourselves the question, “How can we do more of this work in burnt areas?” This could help BC continue building revenue through forestry while reducing the need to harvest healthy stands. The outlook is challenging for our forest sector unless we find this new balance.


With all this in mind, we believe the Pressy Lake Pilot Project has the potential to be a benchmark for similar initiatives throughout BC; and with the correct incentives — either through the permitting process, appraisals, or external funding — this pilot has the potential to solve a lot of the challenges BC is facing when it comes to both sustainable forest management and providing fibre to industry.

Read the full story in BC Forest Professional Magazine:



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