ȽÁU,WELṈEW̱/John Dean Park wildfire risk reduction project 

ȽÁU,WELṈEW̱/John Dean Park is in the Saanichton Peninsula on southern Vancouver Island. The park is beside the community of North Saanich and provides recreation and naturalist opportunities for both residents and visitors. ȽÁU,WELṈEW̱/John Dean Park is also within the wildland urban interface, an important area for wildfire planning and prevention.  

Why is the park significant? 

ȽÁU,WELṈEW̱/John Dean Park protects an important area of Garry oak and old-growth Douglas-fir ecosystems and plant communities. There are also important cultural features to local Indigenous communities in the park. 

Why did BC Parks undertake a wildfire risk reduction project here? 

Wildfire risk reduction (WRR) was the goal for the project. To accomplish this, fuel management was planned in key areas within the park to modify the forest and reduce fuel loading. This was supported by management direction from the “John Dean Park Purpose Statement and Zoning Plan”, which emphasizes the importance of the park’s natural, recreational and cultural features. By implementing small-scale changes to the forest, landscape wildfire resiliency is increased. This project also complements FireSmart ® efforts being undertaken nearby in the community. 

The prescription 

The BC Parks Licence Plate Program funded a fuel management prescription that outlined treatment strategies for reducing wildfire risk while also meeting BC Parks’ Impact Assessment process and BC Parks’ mission and responsibilities. This prescription covered 9.3 hectares of high priority areas and was developed by a team of professionals. First Nations engagement and consultation were completed, and management for cultural values was incorporated into the prescription.  

BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) subject matter experts reviewed the prescription for alignment with WRR objectives, and a professional biologist reviewed the prescription to verify prescribed treatments would not negatively impact important ecological values.  

The treatment  

The treatment phase began once the prescription was finalized and approved. The focus for treatment was managing understory trees to help reduce potential fire behaviour, while maintaining mature forest structure and diversity. Small diameter trees were removed, ladder fuels (fuels that provide vertical continuity between the surface fuels and crown fuels in a forest stand, e.g., low-hanging branches) were pruned, and surface fuels (all combustible materials between the ground and ladder fuels that are responsible for propagating surface fires, e.g., small diameter woody materials like small branches and sticks) were reduced. By removing these plant materials in a controlled way during cooler months, it reduces the amount of fuel that a wildfire would have access to. Wildlife trees, deciduous trees, shrubs, and riparian features were protected and preserved during treatment. 

All of the removed plant materials were piled away from nearby disturbed areas to help prevent invasive plants from spreading. These small piles were burned, and native plant seeds were planted after the burns were completed.  

Treatment was completed in phases between December 2021 and February 2025 by both local BC Wildfire Service crews and contractor crews.

What’s next? 

BC Parks will monitor the project area to assess fuel loading, plant communities, and their response to treatment. When trees in the project area have grown back to a level that increases wildfire risk, the maintenance phase will begin to lower the risk again. Maintenance will be similar to the original treatment strategies, focusing on thinning the understory vegetation and ladder fuels and cleaning up surface fuels.  

BC Parks would like to sincerely thank everyone involved in seeing this project through to completion – B.A. Blackwell, Madrone Environmental Services Ltd., Iverson Forest Management Inc., and BC Wildfire Service (South Island Zone and Coastal Fire Centre). Part of this treatment was funded by the Crown Land Risk Reduction Program. 

To learn more about terms commonly used to describe wildfires and fuel management, check out BC Wildfire’s Service’s glossary.