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Sarah Chisholm

Building wildfire resilience with Swan River First Nation

Sarah Chisholm

Workshop participants from Swan River First Nation, Apropos Information Systems, and ApexRMS tour the Nine Mile Creek Recreation Area (Alberta, Canada) that was affected by the 2011 Slave Lake wildfires.

Earlier this summer, our team members, Katie Birchard, Leonardo Frid, and Colin Daniel, traveled to Kinuso, Alberta, where they co-facilitated a two-day workshop on wildfire risk assessment needs with community members from Swan River First Nation (SRFN). The workshop focused on developing a tool for forecasting wildfire risk across their territory. This collaborative session, co-facilitated with Todd Bailey (SRFN Director of Land and Environment) and Trevor Wiens (Apropos Information Systems Inc.), documented the needs and values of SRFN as they seek proactive solutions to wildfire threats—an especially urgent issue following the devastating fires near Slave Lake in 2011. The workshop marks the start of a four-year project led by Swan River First Nation and funded by Natural Resources Canada through the Wildfire Resilient Futures Initiative.

The workshop opened with a powerful sweat lodge ceremony, grounding the project in cultural intention and respect. Over two days, community members shared insights and stories on their ancestral and contemporary relationships with fire. Fire has long been central to the SRFN’s culture, used in traditional ceremonies and once managed through prescribed burns—practices now restricted. Participants emphasized a growing concern over the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires, which has contributed to rising anxiety and a sense of vulnerability.

Key objectives identified for the proposed wildfire risk tool included:

  • Supporting SRFN’s preparedness for more frequent wildfire events
  • Reducing the threat to life and property in and around their community
  • Integrating wildfire risk into broader land-use planning and consultation processes

To contextualize these conversations, workshop participants also visited the Nine Mile Creek Recreation Area, a landscape visibly marked by the extensive 2011 Slave Lake wildfires. Coinciding with the workshop were active wildfires near Swan Hills and north of Slave Lake—a reminder of the project’s relevance and urgency.

We are grateful to SRFN for their hospitality, openness, and guidance. Listening to and learning from community voices is essential to developing tools that are not only scientifically robust but culturally appropriate and genuinely useful.

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