Retired from thirty plus years with the Alberta Government starting as an entry level Forest Officer with the Alberta Forest Service, working my way into leadership roles specializing in Wildfire and Integrated Land Management. I understand a holistic approach to managing the landscape finding a balance between Socio, Economic, and the Environments Health. Working knowledge of dealing with complex multi stakeholder groups to find common ground and win win solutions. Thousands of hours spent observing and managing wildfire on complex incidents during their out of control phases. Taught and Mentored at the Wildfire Behaviour Specialist Course in Canada. Approaches wildfire with a innovative landscape management philosophy. Cancer advocate and author.

Currently, I am an Integrated Land Management Specialist (PS4) working for the Resource Integration Planning Branch, Policy and Planning Division of Environment and Parks in Edmonton. I am a participant in a number of cross ministry planning and policy initiatives such as the Integrated Land Management Implementation Planning Team and the Provincial Land Reservation Program Review Team. My main duties consist of reviewing existing land management policy and plans to ensure relevance, consistency and alignment with updated legislation and departmental direction. An example of this is the detailed review of all the Integrated Resource Plans of Alberta. The majority of these plans are thirty years old and still direct current land management practices and policy within Alberta. Our goal is to ensure that the direction and intent within these plans aligns with, and is relevant to, the newly developed higher level Regional Plans such as the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan (LARP) as required by the Alberta Land Stewardship Act as well as standard current best business practices of today. This will result in the elimination of policy duplication and mixed messages while providing a consistent land management message to proponents and regulators within Alberta into the foreseen future.

This temporary position was filled to support the elimination of a large backlog within its branch of outstanding stakeholder applications. This position is responsible for reviewing proposed land use and resource development projects to determine if they may have the potential to adversely impact First Nations’ rights and traditional uses, providing initial direction to proponents as to whether consultation is required to what level, and which First Nations are to be consulted. The position also completes a review of consultation logs and records submitted by proponents, in order to assess the adequacy of their consultation. As part of this adequacy of consultation assessment, FNC Approval Specialists also review mitigation measures to ensure concerns have been addressed appropriately and in alignment with the Department of ESRD resource management objectives. Where concerns are raised that there are Crown issues to be addressed (i.e. cumulative effects), the FNC Approval Specialist will forward this concern to the appropriate ESRD unit.

Section head of Wildfire Prevention Section for 61000 km2 sized district. Supervise and Lead Section keying on Education, Engineering and Enforcement (The 3 E’s) to reduce the potential impacts of wildfires, mitigating their negative impacts while enhancing their positive attributes. Ensure delivery of education and outreach to the public, first nations and industry stakeholders. Build relationships with stakeholders with a goal of mutual benefit. Ensure enforcement program follows departmental policy and all human caused fires are investigated to a conclusion with appropriate recommendations for cost recovery. Deliver a FireSmart based program utilizing all three E’s with a focus on Community Protection Zones located within the Management Area. Work jointly with adjacent jurisdictions such as Wood Buffalo Federal Parks, the Govt of NWT, the Municipal Region of Wood Buffalo and various other Provincial Govt Departments to accomplish FireSmart goals identified for the protection of communities within the Waterways Management Area. Identify areas for FireSmart engineering utilizing a variety of tools for fuel reduction and management including but not limited to prescribed burning and harvesting. Ensure the Prevention program is planned, with clear measureable objectives in place, so future Prevention Officers will just have to concentrate on maintenance of the program. Maintain and expand existing certifications of Incident Command Level I Team rated Fire Behaviour Specialist for fire suppression within and outside of Alberta where required. Mentor/Instruct at the National Wildfire Behaviour Specialist course. Participate actively as a member of the Provincial Wildfire Prevention Group and the Provincial Fire Behavior Specialist Group.