Treeplanting Supervisors Need to Know the Representative Weather Station for Each Blk

5 May 2024

Background

I have just finished three training sessions that included several tree planters. Many had stories of close encounters with wildfires in 2023. It is great to see that more planting contractors are keen to make sure their folks are adequately trained. However all the tree planters, including supervisors, stated they were unaware of how to determine the representative weather station for a specific block.

Tree-planting is an industrial activity and planters are forest workers. Just like any other industrial operation they are required to meet the prevention, preparedness and response obligations detailed in the Wildfire Act/Regulations and Worksafe BC Act and Regulations. Meeting these obligations may be part of contractual and insurance requirements as well.

Knowing the representative weather station for each worksite and reviewing the applicable Fire Danger Rating, current and forecast weather, fuel moisture codes and fire behavior indices are core components of meeting these wildfire obligations,

The BC Wildfire Service app will tell you the closest weather station but this might not be the most representative.

BC Wildfire App

Determining the most representative weather station for each site falls in the scope of professional forestry and will have been identified for the harvest plan. It just needs to be transferred to the planting maps and info package.

0400 Weather Readings from Bear Lake, May 5,2024. Note the FFMC of 93.5 = easy ignition and rapid spread of fine fuels

Suggestions

1. Tree planting contractors and supervisors should ask their Licensee Silviculture Supervisor for the representative weather station for each worksite.

2.  Supervisors should conduct a risk assessment then consult the representative station on the BCWS app daily and make appropriate prevention, preparedness and response operational adjustments.

3. Considering the ongoing drought conditions, and forecast early and elevated wildfire activity, I suggest it would be prudent for supervisors to include this information in the daily crew briefing for each worksite.

Good luck with the season. Contact me anytime for more information.

Doug MacLeod

You may like

Fall Followup Observations on Increasing the Wildfire Resilience of our Regen Stands
7 November 2025

I worked on a wildfire this summer then spent the fall doing layout for salvage harvest and assisting with the fire rehab. It gave me a chance to revisit the area mentioned in my Aug. 4 post (link below) and add to my observations on improving the wildfire resilience of our regenerated stands. Don’t Neglect […]

Read More
Fuel Reduction or Response? How Best to Spend the Taxpayers Money?
1 November 2025

The recent discussions about forming a federal wildfire response agency have generated a lot of discussion and opinions from experts  on where to focus our taxpayer money. Should we increase our response capacity or increase fuel modification? As is usual the answer is a bit of both. Our wildlands are in such poor condition we […]

Read More
We are Losing Wildfires in Protected and Unmanaged Areas
19 September 2025

 I am just finishing up the summer field season which included Line Location and Construction Supervision on a few fires in the Southern Interior of BC.  Except in periods of very low fire behavior we lost fires in preserved and unmanaged land. This included parks, streamside (riparian) reserves, wildlife tree patches, special management zones (OGMA, […]

Read More