People taking part in "We are Fire Wildland Fire Conference." (Submitted Photo/BJW Photo)

By Jaryn Vecchio

Fire Conference

Controlled burns being considered for rejuvenating wildlife habitats & populations

Mar 29, 2023 | 5:00 PM

Indigenous people across Saskatchewan are hoping to see controlled fires used in the Saskatchewan River Delta to help restore wildlife habitats and populations.

While many believe fires would destroy everything in their path, they actually help release valuable nutrients on the ground and open the forest canopy to sunlight helping rejuvenate the area.

A conference is being held in Cumberland House highlighting the usefulness of fire and how Indigenous people have used it for decades to help nature thrive.

It’s being put on by the Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) in partnership with the Muskrats to Moose (M2M) Project Team which for the last two years has been studying the benefits of controlled burns.

Renée Carrière, M2M Project Co-Lead, told paNOW the delta is being overrun by an evasive species of plant that provides little to no nutrients to animals.

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“A muskrat will eat it, but it’s like eating celery – it’s not nutritious enough.”

It’s gotten to the point that healthy plants are having a tough time keeping up which is forcing animals like muskrats and moose to migrate to other areas where they can avoid the evasive species.

Carrière said it’s impossible not to notice how much fewer animals call the delta home.

“My husband used to be able to harvest about 1,500 to 2,000 muskrats in a season. Five years ago, he got five…one, two, three, four, five.”

The muskrats that he did find were also skinnier than in previous years.

To highlight how fire can help fix this issue, the M2M project team recently conducted a study where they burned half the land around four lakes in the delta.

After harvesting healthy plants, they left the lakes alone for some time to allow the animals still in the area to experience the change themselves. The team ended up catching several muskrats in the burned area and in the non-burned area with the results being quite noticeable.

“There were 33 per cent heavier muskrats in the burned area because there was healthier vegetation,” said Carrière.

Indigenous people have a long history of using fire. It was a very popular practice during the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.

It wasn’t until the 1980s when concerns about these fires getting out of control that the practice was slowed down immensely. To this day, Carrière noted there’s never been an out-of-control wildfire that was caused by an Indigenous-controlled burn.

This, along with the creation of the E.B. Campbell Dam and climate change, has had a negative impact on the Saskatchewan River Delta and its species of animals.

“Something has to be done about maintaining habitat to maintain those populations,” said Cliff Buettner, the Director of Forestry and Emergency Protective Services for the PAGC.

The hope is this conference, which has brought people from all across the province to Cumberland House, will help highlight the benefits of fire and allow Indigenous people more chances to conduct controlled burns to help areas like the Saskatchewan River Delta return to their past glory.

If this does start becoming a common practice again, both Carrière and Buettner believe Indigenous people should be leading the way.

“(Indigenous people) know the land… they know when to say when,” said Buettner.

Meanwhile, a website and video have also been created explaining the importance of controlled fire, when it’s appropriate to use it, and how Indigenous people used fire to shape the land we know today.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow