Sorry, but I just can't let unsubstantiated rhetoric pass without comment. What started out as an interesting thread has morphed into comments about cultural practices that have no relevance to the wildfire issue although such practices may actually benefit forests overall. Consider the following.
Firstly,
There is a significant body of evidence that supports controlled burning as a means to lessen the impact of wildfires. There are many scientific reports that document this. Here is a link to the US Forest Service that supports this process:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/dbnf/home/?cid=stelprdb5281464
Parks and Wildlife Service of Australia also does controlled or preventative burning. More at this link:
https://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/management/fire/prescribed-burning
In Canada the CBC has done several reviews of the practice of controlled burns.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/brit...ns-fire-interior-displaced-evacuees-1.4198057
BC Forest Service commented in the review of the 2017 Wildfire Season that record-high Build Up Index (BUI) ratings in several areas. (The BUI is a numeric rating of the total amount of fuel available for combustion, in the event a wildfire does occur.) These developing conditions set the stage for what was to become one of the worst fire seasons on record. Such build up occurs when there has been no fire for a number of years and is the reason many countries do controlled burning.
Secondly,
In the case of the 2017 Wildfire Season in BC multiple reports documented that 54% of the fires in BC were caused by humans and in a report by Dr.John Innes, dean of the faculty of forestry at the University of British Columbia, said people generally don't set fires deliberately, but a significant number of fires are simply the result of carelessness.
"Fires are started by campfires being left unattended or not properly extinguished, cigarettes being thrown away without being put out (especially from cars), by sparks and by contact with very hot surfaces (such as an ATV going through dry grass)," Dr. Innes said.
You'll note that nowhere is there an attribution of a wildfire caused by any socio-cultural practice and I could find no reference to one.
A couple of comments regarding skullbinding and slavery were tossed in the last post to somehow link cultural practices of the past with issues of the present. While considering this please consider the link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_cranial_deformation that discusses this practice in many countries worldwide not just North American indigenous peoples.
Slavery? Well consider this link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Canada that discusses the little known practice of buying and selling slaves in Canada. Yes, we did it too, it was just overshadowed by what was going on in the US.
Bottom line? i respect everyone's right to an opinion but respectfully request accusations are substantiated.
Do I have an interest in seeing wildfires in BC end and soon? You bet. Part of my family is on the front line as I write this. I only talk to him periodically as communication is sporadic but go to bed each night hoping he's safe. Thanks for listening.