May 9, 2025 at 11:30am ET
Hosts: Ashley Camille and Georgina Preston
Indigenous lands in interior British Columbia (BC), Canada are being impacted by increasingly large, fast-moving, high-severity wildfires due to climate change and an increase in vegetation (fuels) resulting from two centuries of settler-colonial land management. Despite disruptions from settler-colonial laws and policies, Stswecem'c Xget'tem First Nation (SXFN) has stewarded their Traditional Territory in south-central BC since time immemorial, including through frequent application of surface fire. SXFN communities have been repeatedly threatened by wildfires throughout the last two decades, inspiring SXFN to partner with the University of British Columbia in 2021 to quantify crown fire risk in their wildland-urban interface and explore forest stewardship solutions. We quantified fuel loads and potential fire behaviour in unceded dry SXFN forests with BC government legal objectives for mule deer winter range (MDWR) and old growth management (OGMA), then explored wildfire mitigation options through simulated fuel treatments. This research explores how legal objectives for MDWR and OGMA impact the ability of SXFN to implement wildfire risk mitigation, climate change adaptation, and ecocultural restoration within the forests of their Traditional Territory. It gives examples of work currently happening in the Territory and perspectives from the Nation on its importance. Above all, the research advocates for Indigenous sovereignty, especially as it pertains to land stewardship that aims to make Indigenous communities and the lands that surround them better prepared for wildfires.
Georgina Preston (she/her) is a white settler who currently lives in Kaska Traditional Territory in the Yukon. Georgina recently completed her MSc in Forest Sciences at the University of British Columbia. Her research was in partnership with Stswecem’c Xget’tem First Nation, who she has worked for and with since 2018. Georgina is passionate about preparing rural communities to better co-exist with wildfires. Georgina is grateful to continue this work with Yukon Wildland Fire through helping with the development of a Community Wildfire Protection Plan for her small community of Watson Lake.
Ashley Camille is from Stswecem'c Xget'tem First Nation (SXFN) and works as the Crisis and Emergency Response Coordinator for her community. She has been working in Stewardship and Emergency Management since 2022. Her background includes Game Day Coordinator for various live sports events and as a Security Guard at the PNE.
