Along much of the 5,525-mile US-Canada border, there is a 20-foot-wide strip cleared of all trees and shrubs. This strip, officially known as the vista clearing but affectionately known at The Slash, is cleared every 6 years as citizens from both countries pay taxes to collaboratively maintain the vista.
Is this the world’s longest firebreak?
No. While it may resemble the wildfire suppression tool, it is an area created and maintained since the 1800’s to visually show the boundary between the two friendly nations and make finding boundary monuments easier. Our two countries maintain this line per a series of treaties dating all the way back to the late 1700s.
In modern times, this line is maintained in areas where the boundary is accessible and where people may benefit from seeing the boundary clearly marked. While it may be a normal part of our world now, this border was drawn, marked, and deforested for the benefit of colonial settlers in North America. The Indigenous people of Turtle Island, as some First Nations call the continent, saw no border here until settlers made one. Before the 1400s, fires burned wherever vegetation, topography, and weather allowed. Many Indigenous tribes lit these fires themselves to tend to the forests and grasslands that their people stewarded and lived on for over 20,000 years.
And now, despite our nations’ efforts to contain fires from spreading across the border, they do so of their own accord. The flames and the smoke travel far across the Slash moving both north and south. If wildfires can flow so easily across the border, why does knowledge and practices around wildfire adaptation get stopped at that 20-foot clearing?
The Ember Alliance partnered with the Indigenous Fire Marshall Service in Canada to share a tool that stateside communities have been using for over 20 years at the Indigenous Public Safety Conference in October 2024. During a two-day preconference training in Richmond, BC, staff from The Ember Alliance talked about Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) and how they have been used, created, and changed in the US.
CWPPs are a planning process that neighborhoods, fire districts, and counties across the US work through to build a shared vision of wildfire adaptation in their wildland-urban interface communities. Relevant partners in the area including local governments, the local fire protection authority, the state forester or representative, and others meet regularly to discuss wildfire risk, community values, critical infrastructure, evacuations, building construction, and fuels on the surrounding landscape. Once the partners see what their risks are and what the community needs, they make a plan for the community and partners to help make the area as prepared for and resilient to wildfire as possible.
This planning process has gone through a lot of growth since they were first created. There is more emphasis on community engagement, programs that will help the community, the definition of the wildland-urban interface, and how the plan might align with hazard mitigation plans, watershed plans, and evacuation plans. Counties, fire departments, and contractors have learned so much through the thousands of CWPPs that have been written, and we can look back and see what successful plans had in common. Staff from The Ember Alliance have taken much of that knowledge and pulled it into the course that was taught at the preconference training, and combined that history with the experienced from partners working in British Columbia and the Yukon Territory – the only two of thirteen provinces and territories that have CWPPs.
In addition to introducing the US approach to the CWPP process, we created space for participants to explore how it could be adapted for First Nations communities. Unlike many US-based CWPPs led by local governments or tax districts, these discussions highlighted unique considerations for First Nations. Often, First Nations communities are small and closely knit, allowing emergency professionals to know each resident personally. This intimate knowledge goes beyond what statistics or census data can capture: they know the elders and where they live, who has children or pets that might need help during evacuation, and who might need support to prepare their property. This close connection is rare in larger stateside communities developing CWPPs, and it resonated deeply during conversations in Richmond.
Understanding one’s community is fundamental to identifying who should be involved in the planning process. While cross-jurisdictional collaboration is typical in the US, such mandates may be less appropriate on unceded First Nations lands, where enforcing outside involvement risks perpetuating colonial mindsets. Many Nations already have the knowledge and resources to handle planning on their lands, as they have for millennia, and may seek external support only as needed. The process should respect each Nation’s autonomy, aligning with a broader recognition of their expertise in land stewardship.
Risk assessments also showed the value of oral histories in understanding changing fire patterns. For example, one participant from a First Nation in northern Manitoba shared how, in the past, their fire department could confidently manage fires and evacuations due to stable fire behavior and weather patterns. Today, however, with increasingly erratic weather, fire behavior has become unpredictable, complicating fire management and evacuation planning. This illustrates how modern challenges intersect with traditional knowledge, underscoring the complexities First Nations face.
In discussing social vulnerabilities to wildfire, smoke, and evacuations, participants further emphasized the importance of knowing their community. Members of some Nations highlighted that addiction presents one of their most significant challenges. Addiction can make it hard to complete mitigation work on homes, can lead to resistance during evacuations, and may require community priorities focus on helping individuals over safeguarding structures. Highlighting addiction as a social vulnerability is rare in US-based CWPPs that The Ember Alliance has been involved with but was an important conversation to have in this context.
Finally, regarding community engagement on wildfire preparedness, participants recommended culturally resonant methods of communication. In smaller communities, a shared meal often serves as an ideal space to initiate conversations. Rather than organizing formal meetings where residents sit through presentations, participants suggested hosting a meal followed by a relevant film screening. This approach fosters connection, engages people meaningfully, and reflects the community’s collective spirit in building wildfire resilience.
The conversations at the Indigenous Public Safety Conference underscored the importance of adapting wildfire preparedness and planning processes to reflect the distinct strengths and needs of First Nations communities and of communities living in the northern half of the continent. As fire knows no borders, collaboration across jurisdictions and between Nations is crucial for advancing wildfire resilience on both sides of the US-Canada boundary. Yet, such collaboration must respect the sovereignty, knowledge, and unique vulnerabilities within each community. As The Ember Alliance and the Indigenous Fire Marshall Service continue to share knowledge, tools like CWPPs may evolve to integrate the wisdom of traditional land stewardship, deepen community engagement, and honor local customs. In doing so, cross-boundary partnerships can build stronger, more adaptable frameworks for wildfire resilience, paving the way for a future where all communities are empowered to protect their land and people in a rapidly changing environment
This course was made possible thanks to the Indigenous Fire Marshal Service, the Argosy Foundation, and Coalitions & Collaboratives Inc.