Wes, born and raised in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, has been with Forest Management Division, Environment and Natural Resources of the GNWT since 2010. He joined the team at ENR as the FireSmart Coordinator and currently is the Wildfire Risk Management Coordinator. At FMD we work with our regional staff in the NWT to complete and update Community Wildfire Protection Plans, provided fiscal support for implementing community FireSmart initiatives, and continue to support the communities in reducing risk.

During the fire season Wes is a Territorial Duty Officer and during large fire events is part of the Incident Management Teams when required.

Wes is a retired Fire Chief of the Fort Smith Volunteer Fire Department of 18 years, a past Chairperson of the CIFFC Mitigation and Prevention Committee, and the coordinator of the Fort Providence Wildfire Experimental Site (formerly known as the ICFME site). He has a love of the north, its people and plans to retire in Fort Smith in a few years.