Wildfire risk grows for Saskatchewan logging industry

Some evacuees are returning home but concerns remain for businesses in the north as fires continue to burn. Hallee Mandryk reports.

Nathin Peters grew up learning the ins and outs of his family’s logging company, R Peters Jr Contracting LTD. in Prince Albert. But he said the increasingly difficult challenges that come along with wildfire season are becoming more and more difficult to prepare for.

“The ongoing impact is just the instability. You plan your operations based on areas and public consultation. There’s a lot of hoops to go through. And it’s not a quick process, it takes time. So you start doing it and then each year it seems like fire season impacts things more,” Peters said.

Peters told CTV News that this year marks the fourth year in a row that significant wildfires have taken a toll on his business and his community.

“The volunteer effort that I’ve seen in the last week was incredible. And the people working so hard to protect farmland and assets and different things, fences, that’s been a big one people aren’t talking about either is the grazing land lost in the forest, so there’s just lots of facets to it,” Peters said.

Peters added that his family has a cabin in northern Saskatchewan, which has also been been impacted by wildfires for the past few summers.

“Just the uncertainty. You’re watching the fire come for days. You see the smoke plumes, and then all of a sudden you get up one morning and you can actually hear it like roaring... While we’re up there dealing with it, the family is back home and you’re making a phone call or you’re texting. ‘We’re okay, we’re still okay’.

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While dealing with wildfires has become familiar, Peters said it doesn’t make the stakes any lower.

“But then the next text is ‘the kids are worried, they wish you were home’...and so it becomes personal really quick when you’ve dealt with it before,” Peters said.

When an independent review of the 2025 wildfire season was commissioned, Peters expressed that he was optimistic the findings could have a positive impact on the 2026 wildfire season.

“I thought it was a great idea. Definitely needed some insight from a third party to look into what happened last year. I mean, nobody expected what happened. You can’t point fingers at individuals. So I thought it was a great way to look at it as an organization for everybody, not just business, but for Saskatchewan as a whole,” Peters said.

But as the estimated publication date of the report passed, Peters expressed that it’s left him feeling frustrated on both a personal and professional level.

“Business and personal, and I feel like for me, they’re intertwined because I’m affected on both sides. So I’m waiting to see what are the recommendations. But...it’s not there. And we’re still not getting any word of where it is,” Peters said.

The provincial government said the report timeline was extended to allow for additional stakeholder consultations, helping to ensure a thorough and informed assessment.

“The province is committed to ensuring that when this report is made public, communities have a clear understanding of what the review found, what actions have already been implemented for the current wildfire season, and what additional steps will be taken to strengthen Saskatchewan’s wildfire preparedness and response,” the province said in a statement.

“The province is actively reviewing MNP’s recommendations and developing a response. The report, along with the government’s response and next steps, will be released publicly in the coming weeks.”

For Peters, it’s now a little late for any recommendations to make a difference in his operations this year.

“I can’t help but wonder if that report was out, would there have been recommendations that could have helped remedy the start of the fire season again, and not let this fire get so big?,” Peters said.

Adding that the logging industry is one of many in the province that is heavily impacted by the weather, and anticipating the added challenge of wildfires takes a major toll.

“It’s hard on equipment. Ash is brutal on all of the machines [and] the soot. And the second big factor is bugs. There is a very short season and once the wood is dead, the beetles get into it...and most people don’t want lumber with bug holes in it or wormholes. It just becomes an inferior product that you can’t use. And...it’s hard to sell burnt wood,” Peters said.

Peters shared that in the forestry industry, many believe there isn’t much value placed on timber. While wildfires play a natural role in the lifecycle of a forest, Peters has concerns that the increasingly difficult challenges presented by this time of year are out of the ordinary.

“I think you’d be hard pressed to find anybody that doesn’t believe fire is a natural part of the landscape. And we are going to lose value every year, no matter what we do. But does it have to be to this scale?” Peters said.