Power Lines in the Forest Protection Area of Alberta
The Three “E”s of Prevention
• EDUCATION
• ENGINEERING
• ENFORCEMENT
ENGINEERING
WILDFIRE STATISTICS
• 39/15/8
• 50/50
Number of Alberta Wildfires 1990 to 2000
36%
3%
61%
Lightning
Human*
Power Line
1998 FIRE SEASON1998 FIRE SEASON
Mitsue FireMitsue Fire
49,670 ha49,670 ha
$$$$$$$$$$
Priority Setting for Values at Risk
• #1 Human life• #2 Communities• #3 Watershed & Soils• #4 Natural Resources• #5 Infrastructure
RISK
• Values at risk• Surrounding Hazard• How lucky do you
feel?• Can you live with the
risk?• Can you live with the
liability?
The Wonderful World of Law
• The world as we knew it has changed
• Liability• Can we survive it?• Can we avoid the
courtroom?
New Issue?
• Power lines identified as an issue in the big fires of 1981
• Wildfire agreements created in 1991
• Mitsue may have been the catalyst to many other issues
What are the issues?
• Planning in isolation between main industries
• Communication and information sharing could be stronger
POLICY
• Spring 2000 Tree-Free Policy implemented
• For all new power line dispositions
• Attention received from Industry stakeholders
One Thing in Common
• Affected everyone doing business in the Forest Protection Area
In Response to the Attention
• Executive steering committee was created in summer of 2000
• Working group created
Working Group Membership• 3 Divisions of Land & Forest
Service• ATCO• TransAlta• Utilicorp• CAPP• Telus• Rural Electrification Assoc.• Alberta Forest Products Assoc..• FMA & Quota holders
FIRST THINGS FIRST
• Make sure everyone is at the table
• Seek to understand then be understood
• Begin with the end in mind
What do we want?• Balanced approach to
dealing with risk
• Sound management practices
• Prevent wildfires
• Provide reliable & cost efficient services to clients
• Minimal bureaucracy
• Minimize “Foot Print” on the landbase
CHALLENGE• Attempt to breakdown a
complex issue to find out what exactly is the problem
• Find simple/straight forward solutions
• How to consistently implement the solutions.
• How to ensure that we do not go back to the “old habits” of the past
KEY PRINCIPLES
• PLANNING– Cooperative
– Communicative
– Information sharing
• WORKING TOGETHER
HOW DO WE DO THIS?
• Ensure that everyone is speaking the same language– Communication– Cooperation– Agreements– Workshops– Consistent Process
THANK YOU