Evaluating the Use of Prescribed Fire to Rejuvenate Forage Pastures and its Impact on Soil Health

2026 – Research and Knowledge Sharing
All 4 prescribed fires for the project have been completed.  Soil and forage analysis continue at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Agassiz Research and Development Center to assess (a) forage productions, (b) forage quality, (c) soil health and (d) carbon cycling.

Project findings and experiences were sharing through a poster at the Thompson Rivers University MSc Showcase on March 5, 2026 and through the University of Alberta’s prescribed fire course held from January to May 2026.  Several project team members also became certified BC Wildfire Service Instructors.

An additional webinar, Indigenous Fire Stewarship: Bringing Good Fire Back, was held on April 17th, 2026.  The discussion brought together Indigenous leaders and fire practitioners to share perspectives on cultural fire stewardship and rebuilding capacity to apply good fire.

2025 – Final Two Burns Completed and Monitoring Expanded
Spring

• Prescribed fire was completed at Peace River Ranch near Montney in April and Bear Mountain Community Pasture near Arras in late April/early May.  Approximately six hectares were treated at each site.
• Crew Leader training at Peace River Ranch involved more than 20 participants and was followed by hands-on prescribed fire experience on pasture grazed by plains bison.  Mentorship at both sites helped rancers and community members develop skills in leading prescribed fire operations.
• Crew members from Prophet River First Nations, Blueberry River First Nation and Acho Dene Koe participated in the burns.
• All 4 project burns were completed with the required authorizations, with no escapes and no need to activate contingency plans.
• Grazing exclosures were established at the 2 new sites.  Soil was sampled approximately 2 weeks after those burns, and the Ardill and Thiessen sites were samples approximately one year after their 2024 burns.
• The 3-part winter webinar series concluded in February, and the Northeast Range: Prescribed Fire Values Checklist was published in March.

Summer & Fall

• Forage surveys were competed at all 4 sites, measuring plant composition, growth and biomass.  These represented the first summer after fire at Peace River Ranch and Bear Mountain and the second summer at Ardill and Thiessen sites.
• A pasture walk at Bear Maountain Community Pasture on August 19 brought together approximately 15 participants to discuss forage recovery, aspen regrowth and differences between grazing and ungrazed areas.
• Myth Busters: Prescribed Fire in Northeast BC was published as Forage Fact #123.
• Soil was sampled again at Peace River Ranch and Bear Mountain approximately five months after their burns.
• The Bear Mountain pasture walk featured in the Oct 2025 Forage First newsletter (issue #104).
• Research findings were presented at the Integrated Vegetation Management Association of BC Foroum on November 4-6 and to the Kamloops Naturalist Club on November 20.

2024 – First Two Burns and Montiroring Established

• Prescribed Fires were completed at Ardills Ranch near Hudson’s Hope and Thiessen Bros Ranch near Buick/Aitken Creek in late April/early May.  The Ardill work included perimeter blacklines and a 35 acre interior burn; the Thiessen burn covered 74 acres.
• Grazing exclosures and paired burned/unburned sampling locations were established.  Soil sampling began approximatly two weeks after the burns, with additional sampling at Thiessen two days after the fire.
• Summer forage surveys measured plant cover, height, species composition and biomass.
• A PRFA Grazing Series tour visited the Thiessen research site on August 13, 2024
• Eleven members of the West Moberly First Nation completed wildfire training through the April 2-5 fire school at Moberly Lake, including S100, S185 and ICS100 training.
• The Thiessen pasture walk featured in the Oct 2024 Forage First newsletter (issue #100).
• The project was featured in the July 2024 Forage First newsletter (issue #99, page 7-8), May 2024 Forage First newsletter (issue #98, page 8) and January 2024 Forage First newsletter (issue #97, page 9-10).
• The remaining burns were delayed by approval requirements and challenging fire conditions.  The original Halfway River site was subsequently replaced by Peace River Ranch, where prescribed fire was completed in 2025.

WHAT’S NEXT
The final project year focuses on completing field sampling, laboratory analysis and interpretation of the forage and soil results.  Planned resources include:

• Burn, Graze, Grow: A Rancher’s Playbook for Better Forage – drafted and undergoing final edition at the time or reporting.
• A third fact sheet highlighting project findings.
• The short documentary Good Fire and a rancher interview series.
• A scientific paper following the final season of data collection.

Final project reporting is tentatively scheduled for March 31, 2027

BEYOND THE RESEARCH SITES
Beyond our four research sites, we’ve seen growin interest in – and use of – prescrived fire across the region.  In, 2025 Blueberry River First Nation completed nine prescrived fires, Thiessen Bros Ranch carried out two additional burns, and training burns took place near Toad River.  These activities reflect growing local capacity to put prescribed fire into practice.

Knowledge and tools developed through the project are also reaching new audiences.  The BC Ministry of Forests is referencing the project’s checklists and planning processes, and team members have supported the Yukon Wild Sheep Foundation in building its own prescribed fire capacity.