Rabbit Creek Wildfire Reclamation

In May 2018 the Rabbit Creek Wildfire occurred in Prince Albert National Park and spread within and outside of the park. Heavy equipment was used to create fire control lines and to improve ground and aerial access to strategic areas. In addition to the dozer lines that were put in during the fire, heavy equipment was used along the border between the south boundary of the park and the Cookson Community Pasture to push back the forested edge to protect a newly repaired fence that had been damaged by the fire. Prince Albert National Park Fire Management takes responsibility for the reclamation of the impacts from the heavy equipment. The two areas of work are the South Boundary Trail and the Elk Trail.

2.1 South Boundary Trail Following the 2018 Rabbit Fire approximately 13.5 km of fence was replaced on the northern boundary of the Cookson Community Pasture. Approximately 6 km of the fence was directly adjacent to the PANP boundary. This area was cleared of vegetation and has long linear berms of soil and wood that are restricting efforts for weed control and seeding along the boundary and also increase long term fire hazard if left in piles. These berms will need to be spread across the opening and a section of this area will need to have a flat, debris free surface left to be used as a trail for off road vehicles.

2.2 Elk Trail The Elk trail was a maintained trail within the park. A section of the Elk Trail has been closed since 2018 due to impacts from heavy equipment during wildfire operations. The main area of concern is approximately 700 meters of forest that was cleared to an average of 40 meters wide (~2.8 ha) that will be reclaimed. As this fireguard was put in on a maintained trail, a new trail surface will need to be developed during reclamation. Within this area a bridge that crossed a small stream was destroyed by heavy equipment. A shallow water ford crossing will be developed here. Near this area there is also a helipad of approximately 0.5 ha that will also be reclaimed. Midway from the trailhead there is a section of trail and culvert that has washed out that will need to be repaired as well.

Disclaimer

This map is for illustrative purposes. The markers represent the approximate locations based on available data. More than one marker may be identified for a given assessment.

 

Latest update

March 10, 2021 - The assessment decision statement has been issued to the proponent.

Participate

Contacts

Prince Albert National Park
Box 100
Waskesiu Lake, Saskatchewan S0J 2Y0
Telephone: 306-663-4522 or 1-888-773-8883
Email: princealbertinfo@pc.gc.ca


  • Location

    • Prince Albert National Park (Saskatchewan)

  • Nature of Activity

    • Water Management
    • Remediation and conservation

  • Assessment Status

    Completed

  • Start Date

    2020-09-25

  • Proponent

    Parks Canada

  • Authorities

    • Parks Canada Agency

  • Assessment Type

    Project on federal lands

  • Reference Number

    81015

Nearby assessments

...within 200 kilometres
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