CANADA, August 8 - Released on August 8, 2025

73,080 trees were planted in Narrow Hills Provincial Park as part of a forest renewal treatment, replenishing parts burned in the recent wildfire in Northern Saskatchewan.

"These trees will help to kickstart the renewal process that Narrow Hills needs following the wildfires that devastated the park," Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Alana Ross said. "Creating a safe, natural environment is a step toward reopening the park for future visitors to enjoy."

Five people planted 60,120 jack pine trees and 12,960 white spruce trees between July 7 to 15. 

Amid the newly planted trees, various grasses, shrubs, and deciduous trees like trembling aspen, white birch and balsam poplar are beginning to grow. 

The next stage of the forest renewal planting will be through aerial seeding - dropping seeds from an aircraft to efficiently cover a wide area - to renew other project sites impacted by the Shoe Fire. 

The Landscape Protection Unit (LPU) within the Ministry of Parks, Culture, and Sport, has conducted forest renewal projects in the Pine Lake area of Narrow Hills Provincial Park since 2022. 

When the Shoe Fire burned through that area, it destroyed most of those renewal efforts. While wildfire is a natural occurrence that typically helps to renew forests, the trees planted before the fire were too young to produce seeds, so they were unable to regenerate after the fire. This tree planting initiative helps emulate that natural renewal cycle. 

This latest planting project is part of a larger post wildfire recovery effort to reopen the campgrounds in Narrow Hills Provincial Park in the spring of 2026.

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