From the ashes spread across the area surrounding Crystal Lake, an area hit by the wildfire the past two summers, plants such as fireweed and Bicknell’s geranium appear abundant.
Local biologist Brian Jackson says these particular plants thrive in open ground where there is heavy exposure to sunlight, and therefore gain a competitive advantage in post-burn environments where stands and vegetation have been incinerated.
These are not the only species whose success is heavily dependent on wildfires. In fact, as Jackson explained, the wider ecosystem in this part of the world relies on the fire cycle.
Chamaenerion Angustifolium, fireweed to you and me, springs from the ashes near Crystal Lake off Highway 11.
“Wildfires are a natural way the boreal forest regulates itself,” Jackson said.
In hardwood forests, such as those in Southern Ontario, or in rainforest ecosystems such as Vancouver Island, the regenerative method typically occurs one by one: when one tree falls, a new tree replaces it. Boreal forests, however, are characterized by wildfire cycles of 75 to 100 years, in which the open, burned landscape clears the way for new growth. So, in forests such as Quetico, cyclical fires are both natural and, as Jackson argued, necessary.
In the park, Jackson has observed a problem of competition: shade-tolerant species such as balsam fir were for many years winning out against jack pine, in areas that the government protected against the threat of wildfires. This is because, when species such as Jack Pine are not given the sunlight that a fresh burn provides, they often lose in the early stages of their development. By altering the natural burn cycle, we alter the wider ecosystem.
But what happens when there is a transformation in these cycles, and wildfires become much more common? Jackson argued that the significant wildfire seasons of 2021 and 2026 would have been unlikely to occur in such close proximity if not for human-induced climate change.
This has reignited an older debate about the role of wildfire fighting. Jackson recalled that when he worked at the Ministry of Natural Resources, there was significant discord about the core purpose of Quetico. Was the park meant to preserve the aesthetics of the area for the public and tourism, or the strength and integrity of the natural environment?
There were many who felt that, because post-burn sites were aesthetically displeasing, wildfires should not be allowed to run their course. Others, such as Jackson, believed that the beautiful sights that Quetico visitors had come to adore in fact relied on the regeneration caused by burns.
By the mid-2000’s, the provincial government made it clear that natural processes should rule in the park. Thereafter, the only two justifications for putting out wildfires were to protect people, and future stands of harvestable timber.
As climate change has become a more prominent issue, Jackson cautioned against conceiving of ‘sustainability’ as an environment where conditions remain exactly the same over time.
Healthy ecosystems work in cycles—they always have. Considered through this lens, sustainability thus becomes an attempt to live in harmony with these cycles, even when they naturally bring destruction.
