Released on May 3, 2011
The Ministry of Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport is planning prescribed burns in Duck Mountain Provincial Park and Fort Carlton Provincial Park over the next few weeks.
A prescribed burn is a method of using controlled fire to manage vegetation in an area.
"For thousands of years, nature has used fire to renew grassland and forest ecosystems throughout the province and around the world," Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Bill Hutchinson said. "We have controlled naturally occurring wildfire where many ecosystems are old or diseased. This leads to situations where, if wildfires do occur, they can burn so quickly and so hot that they may threaten the safety of people and property. So, we try to follow nature's lead and burn off old vegetation - a process that also brings new life to our beautiful provincial parks."
Each prescribed burn will help rejuvenate the natural plant species. For example, aspen trees in the burn zone will re-grow by sending new shoots up from their roots. The burns will also help push back invasive alien plant species and promote the health and integrity of our grasslands in the park ecosystems.
"A few years after the prescribed burns have been completed, the area will be full of young, healthy trees, bushes and plants that will attract birds and animals and provide a healthy, vibrant ecosystem well into the future," Hutchinson said.
Over the last decade, prescribed burns have been successfully used in several southern provincial parks to promote ecosystem health and biodiversity. The parks include Saskatchewan Landing, Douglas, Duck Mountain and Greenwater Lake provincial parks.
The two prescribed burns are scheduled to occur in Duck Mountain the week of May 10, and in Fort Carlton Provincial Park the week of May 16. The dates may change due to weather and/or fuel conditions. Each burn will take approximately four days to complete.
Trained personnel from Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport and the Ministry of Environment will conduct the burns.
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For more information, contact:
Jennifer Johnson
Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport
Regina
Phone: 306-787-0619
Email: jennifer.johnson@gov.sk.ca
Cell: 306-529-5805