The Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) Wildfire Taskforce has begun preparing for the 2024 wildfire season. Cliff Buettner, director of forestry and protective services has worked with PAGC for the past 25 years and previous to that spent several years “with the government of Saskatchewan as a conservation officer,” giving him 42 years’ experience with wildfires in the province. The Taskforce was established in 2017 in response to fires in Pelican Narrows. In part the resolution calls for increased First Nation response to wildfires “that affect the traditional livelihoods of First Nations and their traditional land,” Buettner said. First Nation people “want to participate in suppression of fires” that affect their communities,” he said. Buettner said PAGC is looking at the response to firefighting in the north and want to move to a process used in the past to fight fires where fires were fought early in the morning and in the evening.