It’s been more than a few weeks since the wildfires started flaring up around the province and they don’t seem to be dying down any time soon. While it’s obvious that situations like this have brought communities closer together and strengthened people’s generosity, it has also given another opportunity for naysayers to spout criticism.
As usual, the Saskatchewan government seems to be shouldering its fair share of blame. Some of the accusations flung its way (as reported by various new outlets) came as a result of the $1 million budget cut to the Ministry of Environment Forest Fire Operations. Another is because of the manner in which the wildfires are being handled. Some say that when the wildfires first started to burn, the government did nothing. Others are upset because they say the government is allowing the fires to burn too close to communities before extinguishing them. While these accusations may have some foundation, there’s always another angle of truth that’s being missed.
In the first place, the budget cuts may have been considered necessary at the time. We all know that there were concerns about the government balancing a tight budget. These wildfires were unexpected and thus it might have been seen as forgivable to cut down on the budget for it. After all, why save up more money for something that might not even happen when that money could be better spent elsewhere? Even still, the executive director of wildfire management, Steve Roberts, said that resources weren’t affected by the budget cuts. Since the allotted budget dollars act as placeholders, they’ve just diverted dollars from elsewhere to compensate the difference.
Then there’s the accusation that the government allowed the initial wildfires to burn. There’s no way to know if that’s true or not, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it was. Despite their destructive capabilities, wildfires are sometimes not only necessary, but beneficial as well. They burn much of the dead foliage that has fallen to the ground over the years. If we try to stop any and all wildfires every time, we’re just delaying the inevitable forest fires that need to happen.
Some trees, such as black spruce, seem to welcome fires because their cones only release seeds after the conflagration. Experts have even discovered that these black spruce trees are often replaced by leafy deciduous species such as aspen, which don’t burn as easily. In other words, wildfires are sometimes necessary for the boreal forests to undergo ecological advancement.
The last point to address is that of the fires being allowed to burn too closely to communities. There’s a general 20-kilometre rule, but that is subject to change depending on the community and the circumstances. The wildfire management team has to balance the resources and manpower they have with the number of communities they need to protect. They have volunteer firefighters from all across the province stationed in sectors to watch for embers so that the communities don’t burn.
At the end of the day, it’s doubtful that the provincial government isn’t doing everything within its power to suppress and contain the wildfires. It’s also clear that the entire country (and even some United States organizations) has pulled together to support these efforts and the evacuees. That support will make the difference not just with immediate relief, but also with long term support as well.
Even though the provincial government is saying that it’s not worried about dollars right now, the truth is they’re going to have to worry about it eventually. Once the smoke clears and the fires are taken care of, the reality is that this summer’s fires will have put strain on an already tight budget. There’s no doubt that it has taken a massive bite out of an already small pie.
Even the communities that have generously opened their doors to help provide food and shelter will take a hit. It’s anticipated that they’ll be supporting over 10,000 evacuees for a month or longer. How this will affect the provinces in the coming months is hard to say, but it won’t just be the forests that are left with a mark.
