STEPHAN SPEAKS AT CONFERENCE IN KELOWNA

SIFCo's manager Stephan Martineau did a presentation on SIFCo’s WUI philosophy and history for approximately 500 conference participants, at least ½ of which were from B.C.

Participants came from as far away as Australia and the U.S.

Attendees included fire chiefs, rural town representatives, fire suppression professionals, and lots of students. Craig Henderson, GM of FESBC also attended.

A professor from UVIC indicated that he might want to bring his students to do field reviews of some of our treatment areas. The conference was sponsored by Wildland Fire Canada. Stephan’s presentation was well received.

Stephan participated in conversations that addressed how UBCM could be more useful to rural areas. At this time, the UBCM WUI grant monies are only available to treat areas that are within ½ kilometer of Village boundaries.

UBCM is willing to extend that boundary to 2 kilometers, if the area is part of a landscape strategy, which would mean that Villages could access grant monies through UBCM, for areas further from their boundaries.