Budget cuts, a reduction in forest service staff, and strict fire prevention regulations have weakened Canada’s capacity to prevent forest fires. Local resources have been stretched thin because wildfires occur across the country. Several experts say that instead of focusing on wildfire fighting resources, the government should do more to prevent wildfires but it has been unable to because of budget cuts since the 1990s. The wildfire emergency response is managed by each of the 10 provinces and three territories in Canada, but renewed calls for a national firefighting service have arisen.
The small programs implemented by the provinces are community-based and protect villages and towns rather than mitigating the risk of fire throughout forests, making large-scale wildfires more likely. The government should expand measures like prescribed burns that are effective in reducing the risk of wildfires. This practice involves setting a specific area on fire under controlled conditions, helping promote new growth and stimulating ecological restoration. But the rules surrounding prescribed burns have made it harder for foresters to get approval to perform them, increasing the risk of out-of-control wildfires.
The Canadian Forest Service, which employed 2,200 people in 1990s, only has 700 employees today, following budget cuts. Several experts have stated that budget cuts in the 1990s have caused the brain drain, the national forest service cannot deal with increasingly severe forest fire risks.
Dan Bilefsky contributed reporting from Montreal. Remy Tumin contributed reporting from New York.
