Over the last two decades, wildfire management agencies across Canada and North America have been creating fuel breaks around communities and on the landscape to mitigate the risk of wildfire. As vegetation regrows and woody debris accumulates, the capacity of these treatments to reduce potential fire behaviour may be compromised. Fuels managers can re-treat these fuel treatments to restore their original treatment resiliency.

The Canadian Wildfire Fuel Management Panel (CWFMP) has been developed as a national forum of fuel management specialists to discuss fuel treatment and maintenance options in the broad diversity of ecosites across Canada. The Canadian Wildfire Fuel Management Knowledge Base (CWFMKB) is proposed as a knowledge transfer mechanism for relevant fuel management literature and fuel treatment and maintenance options developed by the CWFMP.

At the spring 2021 advisory meeting, members suggested that the CWFMKB can address the objectives of this research project. Members also recommended that two ongoing fuel treatment maintenance studies be completed.