The Shoe fire was ignited on May 7 and is still burning today, having torched nearly 580,000 hectares over its lifetime while destroying the majority of Narrow Hills Provincial Park. (SaskParks/Facebook)

By Logan Lehmann

Forest Renewal

Over 73K trees planted in Narrow Hills Provincial Park following wildfire

Aug 9, 2025 | 8:00 AM

The rebuilding of some parts of Northern Saskatchewan is well underway after wildfires devastated some regions earlier this summer.

One of the hardest hit parts of the province was Narrow Hills Provincial Park, roughly 70 km northeast of Candle Lake, where the massive Shoe fire torched much of the area at the beginning of the summer.

Today, the province revealed that 73,080 trees were planted in the park over an eight-day span last month as part of a forest renewal treatment to help replenish parts that were burned.

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

(SaskParks/Facebook)

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All of the trees were planted by just five people from July 7-15, which included 60,120 jack pine trees and 12,960 white spruce trees. Additionally, various grasses, shrubs, and deciduous trees like trembling aspen, white birch and balsam poplar are beginning to grow again in the area.

Sparked on May 7 via human activity, the fire is still burning as of August 7 and has burned an area of 579,867 hectares so far, causing significant damage in the Lower Fishing Lake area, so much so that the park has been officially closed until spring 2026.

“The fire burned so hot that the entire landscape was destroyed, so the impacts on the park environment, the ecosystem that makes the parks beautiful, are significant,” said Paul Johnson, an assistant deputy minister with Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport, during a June 9 interview with 650 CKOM.

Aerial seeding is the next step in the forest renewal, where seeds will be dropped from a plane to help cover a wider area over impacted areas from the Shoe fire, helping to emulate the natural renewal cycle.

(SaskParks/Facebook)

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

On Bluesky: @loganlehmann.bsky.social