Open Collections

Oeggerli, Virginia

University of British Columbia

Devastating mega-wildfires have become the new normal throughout the interior of British Columbia, Canada, in recent years. These are the result of decades of colonial land management practices that have resulted in increased fuel loads and simplification of forest communities, the impacts of which are compounded by a changing climate. In 2021, the day after the historic heat dome, the McKay Creek Wildfire ignited 11 km north of Lillooet and ultimately burned 46,000 ha of land within St’at’imc Nation territory. We investigated the impacts of the wildfire on vegetation recovery in collaboration with the St’at’imc Nation communities of: Ts'kw'aylaxw, T'ít'q'et, and Xwísten, as well as the Lillooet Tribal Council and St'át'imc Government Services. Together we explored factors driving post-wildfire vegetation trajectories including burn severity, previous presence of invasive plants, and topographical factors, and how St’at’imc knowledges and cultural values can inform post-wildfire restoration. Our objective was to contribute to data-driven post-wildfire restoration approaches that uphold and support the sovereignty rights of Indigenous communities. Vegetation trajectories were analyzed by surveys of plots stratified by burn severity and previous known presence of invasive plants then placed using a mixed preferential approach guided by St’at’imc co-researchers. Research methods and analyses brought together Indigenous and Western scientific knowledges guided by the ‘walking on two legs’ framework, wherein each knowledge system, the ‘legs’, are guided by an Indigenous worldview. Results showed that two years post-wildfire, elevation and aspect were more significant factors in vegetation recovery and susceptibility to invasive plant invasion than burn severity or prior presence of invasive species. Native plant cover increased and non-native plant cover decreased with increasing elevation. Further analyses of plants when grouped by lifecycle, status (native or non-native), and by cultural values gave insight into recovery, suggesting that conventional functional plant groupings may overestimate recovery and underestimate plant invasion risk. Our research brings to light the importance of Indigenized, data-driven post-wildfire restoration as it provides the nuance needed to prioritize interventions across vast landscapes, while upholding Indigenous sovereignty rights in recovery processes.

Text

2024-11-25

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/89711

Forestry

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/