Bulletins

Parks Canada is starting a prescribed fire in the Lake Audy and Strathclair Trail area of Riding Mountain National Park during the spring of 2024. If weather and environmental conditions allow, the prescribed fire will take place between April and May. Grasslands and aspen parkland will be treated to form guards (blacklining) in early spring before boreal mixed wood is treated later in the spring. See Map 1.

Riding Mountain National Park will remain open to visitors during the prescribed fire. Some areas will be closed for short periods to ensure visitor and staff safety. See Map 2. There will be closures in place for the following areas:

• Lake Audy Bison Enclosure
• Lake Audy Campground, Day Use Area, and horse corral
• Lake Audy Road (from 61A to district station)
• Strathclair Trail (closure at both entrances), Central Trail from eastern trailhead to Long Lake Trail junction, north section of Grasshopper Valley
• Kinnis Creek, Vermillion, and Minnedosa River Backcountry campsites

Smoke and flames may be visible from a long distance. There is a possibility that smoke may drift to areas adjacent to the park. Neighbouring residents and property owners may experience some smoky conditions due to smoke travelling outside of the prescribed fire area.

The safety of people, infrastructure, and neighbouring lands is always Parks Canada’s priority.

Prescribed fires are complex operations that can require several years of preparation. Parks Canada wildland fire management specialists prepare a detailed prescribed fire plan and a project impact assessment before any work is done. Parks Canada wildland fire management specialists are experts in their fields. The Parks Canada National Fire Management Program has expertise in fire information and data management, fire science, prescribed fire, wildfire risk reduction, wildfire response, fire technology, geographic information systems, safety, and aircraft operations.

Prescribed fires help decrease or remove the fuel available to wildfires – this reduces their intensity, slows their spread, and makes them easier to control or extinguish. Prescribed fires at Parks Canada administered places are only done under specific pre-determined conditions. Parks Canada fire management specialists assess weather and environmental conditions starting days in advance and continue these assessments right up to the moment before the decision to start the prescribed fire is made.

For up-to-date information about area or facility closures and other updates on the prescribed fire, please check the park’s website at Fire Information and Updates and Facebook page at facebook.com/RidingNP

More information about Parks Canada’s National Fire Management Program can be found at: Parks Canada fire management

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Map 1

Map 2