Larissa Kurz
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
As the number of active wildfires in Saskatchewan reaches a new season high, replanting efforts have begun where one of this spring’s initial blazes swept through Narrow Hills Provincial Park.
A team of five people planted 73,080 fresh trees inside the park’s boundaries from July 7 to July 15 in an effort to replace a swath of natural forest destroyed by the Shoe fire.
Narrow Hills has been closed since mid-May due to wildfires and the destruction left in their wake.
Minister of Parks, Culture and Sport Alana Ross said replanting is the first step in a recovery effort to restore the recreational area and campgrounds for 2026.
“These trees will help to kickstart the renewal process that Narrow Hills needs following the wildfires that devastated the park,” Ross said in a news release. “Creating a safe, natural environment is a step toward reopening the park for future visitors to enjoy.”
Ross said fires have destroyed several ongoing forest renewal projects in the Pine Lake area of Narrow Hills since 2022. Those trees were too young to produce seeds, leaving the area unlikely to regenerate on its own.
The newly planted trees include a mix of 60,120 jack pines and 12,960 white spruce trees, both natural to Saskatchewan’s boreal forest zone. Various grasses, shrubs and other tree types likes aspen, white birch and balsam poplar are also reportedly beginning to grow back.
The next stages of the renewal plan include aerial seeding — dropping seeds from an aircraft — in the wider burn area, said the ministry.
Wildfires to date still above normal
The Shoe fire continues to burn north of Narrow Hills, now at 565,700 hectares in size. It is one of a season-high 86 active wildfires in Saskatchewan’s northern region as of Friday, Aug. 8.
Of those fires, six are classified as contained, 15 as not contained, 48 are subject to ongoing assessment and 17 are in the stage where firefighting crews are focused on protecting nearby values like homes or highways.
According to the online wildfire dashboard from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA), the province has had 460 wildfires to date in 2025, up from 453 this time last year and the five-year average of 359.
Nearly 3,200 people from 11 communities remain evacuated from their homes in Lac La Plonge and La Plonge Indian Reserve, Beauval, Patuanak, English River First Nation, Pinehouse, Île-à-la-Crosse, Ramsey Bay, Canoe Lake First Nation, Jans Bay, Cole Bay and Little Amyot Lake.
Evacuees from La Loche and Clearwater River Dene Nation were given the OK to begin heading home Friday as local officials lifted the community’s evacuation order and state of emergency.
Crews from Parks Canada and the SPSA were continuing suppression efforts to contain the edges of the Buhl fire as it burns partially inside Prince Albert National Park on its northern boundary.
As of Friday afternoon, the Buhl fire was 95,600 hectares in size and less than a kilometre from Ramsey Bay, 12 kilometres from Montreal Lake and 30 kilometres from Waskesiu.
The SPSA’s daily wildfire update on Thursday said 2,160 homes, cabins or other structures have been destroyed to date, including significant losses in Denare Beach and East Trout Lake earlier in June.
Meanwhile, the Saskatchewan NDP has called for the province to remove the provincial sales tax on construction labour for any residential or commercial structures being rebuilt due to the 2025 wildfires.
“This is one step they can take right here and right now to help rebuild after so much heartbreaking loss,” Opposition critic for northern affairs Jordan McPhail said in a news release.
lkurz@postmedia.com
