As wildfires rage across the province this spring, one Interlake resident is helping blaze a safer, more sustainable trail forward — with fire.
Tammy Skogan, a landowner and nature park operator in the RM of Armstrong, recently completed formal training in prescribed fire through a new grassroots initiative aiming to make controlled burning more accessible in Manitoba.
“I was motivated to find a solution for managing my land myself on a greater, more productive scale,” said Skogan, who owns Nature’s Neverland, a private park near Fraserwood. “Prescribed fire is the missing piece to restoring prairie ecosystems — and managing fire the right way can reduce the risk of wildfires before they start.”
Skogan was among 15 participants in a 15-hour course called Intro to Prescribed Fire in the Grassland Environment, offered by the University of Saskatchewan and developed by the Canadian Prairie Prescribed Fire Exchange (CPPFE). The course was made accessible locally thanks to the newly formed Stuartburn Prescribed Burn Association (SPBA), which arranged a discounted group rate for members.
Five of those participants, including Skogan, also took part in a five-day hands-on training exchange hosted in Gardenton, Man., by CPPFE and the Nature Conservancy of Canada. The event brought together 37 land stewards, conservation professionals and fire specialists from across Western Canada, Newfoundland, Quebec, the Yukon and Northwest Territories.
For Skogan, the training was transformational.
“TREX was possibly the most positive experience of my life,” she said. “The professionalism, the depth of knowledge, the hands-on learning — it gave me the confidence to use fire as a management tool on my land and hopefully to support others in my region too.”
Participants learned how to safely plan and execute a prescribed burn using the Incident Command System; practised with tools such as drip torches, pumps and fireline hand tools; and helped develop burn plans for real grassland sites like the Pansy community pasture.
Skogan, a longtime carpenter and environmental educator, has spent the past decade rewilding an 80-acre homestead into a nature park. She’s also a butterfly ranger with the David Suzuki Foundation’s Butterflyway Project and operates Yard Candy, an eco-friendly workshop that funds the park through repurposed materials and crafts.
But despite her conservation background, she said breaking into prescribed fire work wasn’t easy.
“I have no formal education in conservation or firefighting,” she said. “Getting this training was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity — I had to sacrifice work and sleep to make it happen. But I hope it shows others, especially in rural municipalities like Armstrong, that it’s possible.”
Skogan plans to begin restoring 20 acres of her land currently overgrown with aspen and invasive grasses. She believes the SPBA model — a citizen-led, community-based fire association — could be adopted more broadly across Manitoba to support landowners, reduce fuel buildup and relieve pressure on local fire departments.
“Education is the key to removing the fear of fire,” she said. “Fire has always been part of this landscape. If we want to protect it — and ourselves — we have to bring it back safely.”
Skogan hopes to help launch an Interlake chapter of the prescribed burn association in the future and encourages municipalities to consider holding local info sessions to build awareness.
“This isn’t just about fire,” she added. “It’s about reconnecting people with the land, restoring habitat and giving future generations the chance to experience the ecosystems we’re in danger of losing.”
A public Facebook page for Nature’s Neverland includes photos and updates on Skogan’s land restoration efforts. She says she’s looking forward to joining future SPBA burns — and maybe leading some herself one day.
What is prescribed fire?
Prescribed fire — also known as a controlled burn — is the intentional, carefully planned use of fire on a landscape to meet ecological and land management goals.
Unlike wildfires, which are often destructive and unpredictable, prescribed burns are carried out under specific weather and fuel conditions by trained personnel. Burns are designed to restore native plant communities, reduce the buildup of flammable materials and maintain healthy habitats for wildlife.
In tall grass prairie ecosystems like those found in southeastern Manitoba and parts of the Interlake, fire is a natural and essential process. Historically, wildfires and Indigenous fire stewardship helped shape these landscapes for thousands of years.
Today, prescribed fire is used to:
Control invasive species and woody encroachment (e.g., aspen)
Improve forage quality for grazing
Promote native grasses and wildflowers
Reduce the risk of out-of-control wildfires by removing excess fuel
About the Stuartburn Prescribed Burn Association
Formed in 2023, the Stuartburn Prescribed Burn Association (SPBA) is a volunteer-led group that helps landowners in southeastern Manitoba access training, resources and peer support for using prescribed fire safely and effectively.
SPBA is one of the first citizen-led burn associations in Manitoba and is working in partnership with the Canadian Prairie Prescribed Fire Exchange and conservation organizations like the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
The group also hosts training exchanges (TREX events) that bring together landowners, firefighters, biologists and others to learn hands-on fire management in real-world prairie settings.
To learn more, visit www.prairieshore.ca or search “Stuartburn Prescribed Burn Association” on Facebook.
