A keen crowd attended the November 19 Cheakamus Community Forest Information Session at the SLCC Long House. Nick Soverel, RPF with Frontera Forest Solutions and Abe Litz, RPF with Chartwell Resource Group gave presentations on the Climate Resiliency Plan and how it is being used to develop the CCF’s strategic operations plan.

The plan identifies where the CCF forest is most at risk from the main climate change risks, wildfire and heat/drought. The strategic operations plan will use that information to map out where and how the forest will be managed to provide harvesting, management and silviculture opportunities that will create a more diverse, resilient forest over time. The CCF will use a three pronged approach to deciding what to do and where by determining if an area is resistant, resilient or in transition to climate change.

Have a look at the CCF November 2025 Climate Resiliency & Operations Plan Presentation.pdf to learn more.

Due to circumstances out of CCF control, we were unable to secure cutting permits for the harvesting and wildfire risk reduction projects planned for this fall.

The projects affected are:

• BW100, BW101, BW102 and BW 103 in the Brandywine area
• R10 along the Callaghan Creek FSR
• Wildfire Risk Reduction Project in 16 Mile Valley (in partnership with RMOW)
• Wildfire Risk Reduction Project along Alta Lake Road (in partnership with RMOW)

Our plan is to carry out these projects in spring 2026 assuming all permits can be secured. In addition, the CCF will develop and implement an autumn 2026 harvesting plan. In effect, we will harvest two years of blocks within 2026 (meaning the postponed 2025 blocks plus new 2026 blocks). This will not put the CCF over its Annual Allowable Cut of 21,000m3/year because it is averaged out over five years.

The surfacing project on the Cheakamus River FSR Br. 01 (Cheakamus Lake) is starting today – Sept. 9, 2025 – and will take about three weeks to complete. Whistler Excavations Ltd is the contractor carrying out the work.

This work will be a huge improvement to the road conditions.  They will be putting down 25mm surfacing material on the entire section from 0km – 7km.

There will be minor delays for traffic.  There will be traffic control at all times of operations.  Please obey all traffic control instructions.

Enjoy the smooth drive when the work is done!

We have rescheduled Dr. Suzanne Simard’s talk to July 15 – same time, same place. Unfortunately, she was sidelined with illness and couldn’t make the original date. If you bought a ticket through the AWARE website and can still attend, you don’t have to do anything. The tickets are automatically moved to the new date in July. There are still some left to purchase so this is a second chance if you couldn’t make it to the April date. We hope you can join us for what will be a fascinating talk!

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Dr. Suzanne Simard will be speaking in Whistler at the Audain Art Museum Cressy Hall on April 25 as part of the AWARE (Association of Whistler Area Residents for the Environment) Earth Week 2025 celebrations! Doors will open at 6:45 for a one hour talk with Q&A titled, Mother Trees and Forest Stewardship for a Healthy Planet.

From her website: Suzanne Simard is a Professor of Forest Ecology at the University of British Columbia and the author of the book, Finding the Mother Tree. She is a pioneer on the frontier of plant communication and intelligence; and has been hailed as a scientist who conveys complex, technical ideas in a way that is dazzling and profound. Her work has influenced filmmakers (the Tree of Souls in James Cameron’s Avatar) and her TED talks have been viewed by more than 10 million people worldwide.

Suzanne is known for her work on how trees interact and communicate using below-ground fungal networks, which has led to the recognition that forests have hub trees, or Mother Trees, which are large, highly connected trees that play an important role in the flow of information and resources in a forest. Her current research investigates how these complex relationships contribute to forest resiliency, adaptability and recovery and has far-reaching implications for how to manage and heal forests from human impacts, including climate change.

Tickets are $30 and available through the AWARE website. Space is limited so get your ticket soon! Be sure to attend the other inspiring Earth Day events hosted by AWARE and community partners through the week.

Dr. Rhonda Millikin has been researching the effects of thinning second growth forests on wildfire behaviour and published a paper with her results. In her article, which is published online by MDPI, an open-access publishing platform, Millikin and her co-authors say their research showed forested areas that undergo fuel-thinning see microclimate variables change in the direction of an increase in wildfire potential, with more solar radiation reaching the forest floor, increased ambient temperature, and higher wind speeds. Combined with decreases in relative humidity, soil moisture, and snow depth and cover in spring conditions, fuel-thinning is increasing wildfire potential.

Other research, for example by Dr. Lori Daniels, UBC Koerner Chair Wildfire Co-Existence, does not come to the same conclusion. Dr. Daniels shared her research and conclusions at the December 3, 2024 CCF Information Session held at the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre. Her research shows proactive fuel treatments reduce the chance of crown fire by half, increasing forest resilience in the wildland urban interface of Whistler.

The CCF wants to understand the situation better so will continue to work with scientists including Dr. Millikin to provide answers to the questions raised. The CCF will explore options for learning more about the effects of green fuel breaks in reducing wildfire behaviour in the CCF tenure area. While Dr. Millikin is also interested in researching how sprinklers on houses could reduce wildfire impacts, the CCF can’t be part of that work as it is on private properties. In the meantime, the CCF will continue its plans to thin identified high risk second-growth forests to reduce wildfire behaviour.