Making the Case: The Need for a Wildland Fire Expert Group in the Arctic Council

in the

BY MICHAEL YOUNG

Studies show that wildland fires around the world are increasing in size, frequency and intensity due to the effects of climate change. This trend is even more pronounced in the Arctic region. Temperatures in the Arctic are increasing at four times the rate of the global average, causing increases in drought, permafrost thaw, lightning strikes and changes to vegetation. These changes all combine to make wildland fires in the Arctic more likely and more severe. For example, the 2023 wildfire season in Canada burned more than 15 million hectares of land, the most ever recorded, with 3.4 million hectares in the Northwest Territories.

The Arctic Council is the premier intergovernmental forum to discuss pressing issues in the Arctic, especially those related to the environment. The topic of wildland fires was introduced to the Arctic Council by Gwich’in Council International (GCI) when it proposed projects in the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) and Emergency Prevention Preparedness and Response (EPPR) working groups in 2019. As work on these projects progressed over the last five years, it became apparent that the issue of wildland fires in the Arctic was relevant to several more of the Council’s working groups, and that it was urgent.

Work in the Arctic Council occurs by projects and assessments conducted by each of the six working groups. Of the six working groups, five have remits that intersect with the topic of wildland fires.

The Arctic Contaminants Action Program (ACAP) works to reduce pollution and contaminants in the Arctic through demonstration projects. Smoke from wildland fires poses a serious human health risk in the form of particulates and noxious gases. ACAP can support projects that help mitigate the effects of smoke to human health.
The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) measures and monitors pollutants and climate change effects on ecosystems and human health in the Arctic. The effects of climate change that create an increased risk of wildland fires, as well as how the effects from wildland fires amplify climate change, are both areas of study AMAP can support.
The Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) Working Group conducts projects to provide data about Arctic ecosystems that can inform decision making on species and habitat management and utilization. Vegetation is changing in the Arctic as temperatures increase, changing the types of fuels for fires. Wildland fires also change the ecosystem. Understanding these changes is important to land managers to make informed decisions with respect to wildland fire.

Wildland fire is the most cross-cutting issue in the Arctic Council today.

The Emergency Preparedness Prevention and Response (EPPR) Working Group is charged with studying prevention, preparedness, and response to environmental and other emergencies, accidents, and search and rescue operations in the Arctic. Wildland fires are a new area of focus for the group, but one that will become more important due to the increasing size and severity of wildland fires in the Arctic.
The Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG) focuses on improving environmental, economic and social conditions of Indigenous Peoples and Arctic communities. Wildland fires have a significant impact on the health of Arctic residents through smoke, evacuations, the destruction of property and impacts on food security; this is especially true for remote Arctic communities.

It is not an exaggeration to state that the issue of wildland fires is the most cross-cutting among the Arctic Council working groups. The ACAP, AMAP, CAFF and EPPR working groups all have projects or assessments related to wildland fires. However, by and large, these efforts are not formally coordinated within the existing council structure. There is also no permanent home for the topic of wildland fires. Working groups develop projects organically, without any specific strategy with respect to the issue as a whole. The United States, in conjunction with GCI, proposed the creation of a Wildland Fire Expert Group (WFEG) within the Arctic Council to address these concerns. Given the council’s existing structure, the most effective and acceptable location for the expert group would be as an expert group within the EPPR Working Group.

What should the expert group’s purpose be? What should its composition be? How should it fit within the Arctic Council organizational structure? To answer these questions, the United States and GCI collaborated on a proposal to submit to the Arctic Council. The text below is drawn largely from that proposal.

PURPOSE

The WFEG reports to the EPPR as a guiding body. The purpose of the WFEG is to facilitate and enhance work across the Arctic Council working groups on wildland fires; it will accomplish this through the following mechanisms, among others:

Provide a permanent body within the Arctic Council to address the issues of wildland fires;
Encourage communication among the working groups on wildland fires;
Generate and help develop ideas on wildland fire work appropriate to working groups;
Provide a source of expert information and networks to working group projects;
Conduct regular seminars and workshops on wildland fires;
Facilitate multilateral table-top exercises on wildland fires;
Facilitate state-to-state personnel exchange programs.

ADMINISTRATION AND ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

WFEG meetings will be scheduled as appropriate by the WFEG.
Projects and activities to be undertaken by the WFEG will be presented to and voted on by EPPR Member States and Permanent Participants during regularly scheduled EPPR meetings or intersessionally.
The WFEG will present updates on projects and activities undertaken by the WFEG at EPPR meetings.
The WFEG reports to the EPPR chair.
EPPR Member States, Permanent Participants, Observers and other Arctic Council working groups, as appropriate, should endeavor to participate in WFEG activities as per the Arctic Council Rules of Procedure.
Subject matter experts in various aspects of Arctic wildland fires may be invited to participate in WFEG projects and activities, as deemed appropriate by the WFEG chair.
To facilitate communication on wildland fire work among working groups, Arctic Council working group secretariats from ACAP. AMAP, CAFF, EPPR, and SDWG will be designated as the points of contact for the WFEG on relevant projects and activities in their respective working groups. Direct contact among project leads in other working groups with the WFEG is also allowed, so long as the respective working group secretariat is informed.
The Experts Group will be chaired on twoyear terms by a representative from one of the EPPR Member States as recommended by the WFEG through consensus approval of the EPPR. A Co-chair position may be a representative from one of the EPPR Members States or Permanent Participants not holding the position of WFEG Chair.
The Chair and Co-chair responsibilities include the management and facilitation of WFEG meetings (both in person and teleconferences), projects and activities. Even though project leads may differ from the WFEG Chair, the WFEG Chair should report project status to EPPR when appropriate. The Chair should inform the EPPR executive secretariat in the administration, agenda, and outcomes of WFEG activities as appropriate.

The creation of a WFEG within the Arctic Council is essential and urgent. The Council needs to act now so work on Arctic wildland fires can be conducted consistently and effectively.