Rescinding 2021 wildfire motor vehicle prohibitions

The public is invited to comment on the proposed hunting regulation described below.

Status: Proposed

Region: 3 and 8

Management unit (MU): 3-12, 3-13, 3-14, 3-17, 3-18, 3-19, 3-20, 3-26, 3-28, 3-29, 3-30, 3-32, 3-34, 3-36, 3-37, 8-1, 8-4, 8-5, 8-9, 8-11, 8-21, 8-24, 8-26

Regulation type: Motor Vehicle Prohibitions

Species: All

Closing date: 16:30, March 22, 2024

Decision statement: Pending

Current regulation

Approximately 560,000 hectares within the Thompson-Okanagan region were closed year-round to all motor vehicles to mitigate concerns from the wildfires of 2021 (some roads were exempted from the closures). Originally there were 15 closures, however in the spring of 2023 seven of these closures were repealed, and restrictions on the remaining eight were relaxed. The eight remaining closures are:

• White Rock Lake: in portions of MUs 3-12, 3-20, and 3-26.

• Lytton Creek/George Road: in portions of MUs 3-13, 3-14, 3-17, and 3-18.

• July Mountain: in portions of MU 3-13 and 8-5.

• Mckay Creek: in portions of MUs 3-17 and 3-32.

• Tremont Creek: in portions of MUs 3-18 and 3-19.

• Sparks Lake: in portions of MUs 3-28, 3-29, and 3-30.

• Thomas Creek: in portions of MUs 8-1 and 8-9.

• White Rock Lake: in portions of MUs 8-11 and 8-21.

See Maps at gov.bc.ca/motorvehicleprohibitions.

Proposed regulation

Repeal the remaining eight closures that were enacted in response to the wildfire season of 2021.

Rationale

2021 was a significant wildfire year in BC, especially in the Thompson-Okanagan Region. In the fall of 2021, emergency regulation changes were made establishing 15 Motor Vehicle Prohibitions (MVP)s in some of the larger areas that had burned that summer. These MVPs prohibited the use of all motor vehicles, excluding snowmobiles, for recreational activity including licensed hunting and fishing. Commercial activities such as forestry, mushroom harvesting, and trapping were exempt.

The main rationale for these MVPs was to protect sensitive habitats from off-road motor vehicle use to allow native, early seral vegetation to grow. A second justification was to reduce hunter access in these areas over concerns of increased vulnerability to wildlife due to more open habitats. These MVPs were intended to be temporary and rescinded once the state of succession has reduced the above concerns.

Wildlife staff have monitored these areas over the past 2 years and their assessment based on that monitoring is that MVPs can now be fully rescinded. In the spring of 2023, 7 of the MVPs were rescinded and the other 8 were amended to relax their restrictions in response to evaluating the stage of succession and consultation with First Nations. Succession has continued to occur, and we propose to rescind the remaining 7 MVPs to restore public access to these areas.

Wildfire is natural disturbance to which native species are adapted to and many benefit from. Species such as mule deer, moose, elk, bighorn sheep, and mountain goats all respond positively to wildfire due to improved sightlines to detect predators and increased forage from early seral vegetation. Research projects in the Thompson-Okanagan on mule deer, moose, bighorn sheep, and cougars have shown that these species use new burns, including the 2021 wildfires, as early as the same year of the fire and continue to use burns for decades following. Moose population inventories routinely show that the highest densities of moose occur in burns, and data from the Southern Interior Mule Deer Project show that the use of burns lowers mortality risk for mule deer. Monitoring hundreds of these collared animals has shown that direct mortality from these and other wildfires is extremely rare, and displacement of these species to other areas following a wildfire is minimal and short-lived.

Vegetation succession begins soon after a wildfire occurs. Many burns, especially those that occur early in the season, are full of green grass, fireweed, and willows the same summer and fall as the fire. These food sources attract numerous wildlife species sometimes only weeks after the fire occurred. Vegetation becomes even thicker the year after the fire and continues to increase from there.

Wildfires display varying levels of intensity within the same fire, often with some high intensity, canopy burning portions, and some lower intensity, surface burning portions. This heterogeneity results in a mosaic of burned and unburned areas often leaving refugia areas within a burn permitter that wildlife can use as shelter. The increased ability of people being able to spot wildlife in a burn is also not as great as often described. Topography, downed debris, standing timber, and understory all continue to provide cover for wildlife, and this cover increases over time.

Wildlife staff assessed the state of succession within the MVPs in the fall of 2023 and confirmed the condition of the 2021 burn areas. Early seral vegetation is abundant with plants up to 4 ft high, and increased vulnerability of wildlife to human hunters is negligible. Succession is occurring as expected and overall, these areas are in a good state for wildlife.

Licensed hunting is conservatively managed to ensure sustainability and there are no concerns of overharvest in these areas. Mule deer harvest is restricted to certain timing and managed through male-only seasons, sometimes with antler restrictions. Moose and bighorn sheep harvest is managed through Limited Entry Hunting so wildlife managers can control the number and distribution of hunters on the landscape. There are no conservation concerns for these and other big game species for which there are licensed hunting seasons within the MVPs.

Additional information