Team Update: October 28, 2024

First day of the Wildland Fire Canada Conference- Workshop Day!

From the Wildland Fire Canada website:

"Wildland Fire Canada Conference (WFCC) brings together wildland fire management agencies, partners, and collaborators in Canada and around the world. These biennial conferences focus on wildland fire management, ecology, and science in Canada. Canada has a diversity of fire-prone environments that bring a unique perspective to wildland fire challenges and opportunities. The goal of these conferences is to provide a neutral forum for the exchange of best practices. The conferences promote opportunities for significant information exchange where: wildland fire scientists present new research findings; wildland fire practitioners discuss lessons learned; and wildland fire enthusiasts attend workshops and activities to develop a deeper understanding about wildland fire across Canada."

Monday kicked off the conference with a choice of workshops. We all went to Transforming Fire Management through Indigenous Fire Stewardship and spent the day in a room full of diverse fire knowledge and experience. The first part of the day was spent in one room with introductions and overviews of indigenous fire programs. The afternoon provided the opportunity to break up into smaller groups to discuss topics a little deeper. Ashley's group topic was evacuations, Tavi's group discussed cultural burning, and Hunter was with the group discussing partnerships. Check the individual posts for further details.

After the workshop ended, we went for a guided tour of the Fredericton Botanical Garden. Our tour guide was Dr. Jim, a retired veterinarian who volunteers at the garden. Jim is passionate about his vision for the garden, making the tour interesting and informative. He took us on a guided walk down structured paths to see various gardens and point out trails, statues, and the squirrel highway. We stopped at each garden to learn about its history and any upcoming plans. One of the gardens is the Wabanaki Health Garden. It was started in 2020 and includes local indigenous medicinal and edible plants. The hope is that this section of the garden will be a place for individual healing, and provide educational opportunities with workshops, walks, and community programming.

Georgina arrived at the hotel while we were at the Botanical Garden. We headed out for a group dinner and then settled back at the hotel for the night.