Archie MacDonald

Archie MacDonald, a retired professional forester, is urging changes to B.C.’s approach to wildfires. “We’re concerned about the lack of any tangible actions being put forth by the provincial government to mitigate wildfires,” said MacDonald during a presentation to the board of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen. “The lack of action can be best described by looking at the 2024 provincial budget, where $0 were allocated towards wildfire mitigation. They did allocate some money for wildfire suppression and a little bit for post-wildfire recovery, but $0 for wildfire mitigation.” MacDonald, formerly with COFI, has spent the early part of this year with fellow retired forester Murray Wilson, visiting local governments to build support for their calls for better management of wildfires. Programs like FireSmart, which help property owners guard their homes against wildfires, are good, added MacDonald, but don’t do anything to promote forest health.