Meet the CPPFE Team

Renny . W. Grilz is the Managing Partner of the Canadian Prairies Prescribed Fire Exchange (CPPFE) and Director of Conservation with the Meewasin Valley Authority. As the host organization and managing partner of CPPFE, Meewasin provides leadership in advancing prescribed fire training, partnership development, research, and knowledge sharing across the Canadian Prairies. In addition to serving as Managing Partner of CPPFE, Renny is Meewasin's Prescribed Fire Lead, overseeing the organization's prescribed fire program and integrating fire as a tool for ecological restoration, wildfire risk reduction, invasive species management, and healthy prairie landscapes.

For more than 30 years, Renny has worked in prairie conservation, specializing in prescribed fire, ecological restoration, invasive species management, targeted grazing, and native seed development. Through CPPFE, he works with partners across the Canadian Prairies and the Great Plains of the United States to build prescribed fire capacity through training, research, and collaborative land stewardship. He is passionate about bringing people together to restore resilient prairie landscapes while supporting healthy communities and reducing wildfire risk.

A lifelong student of fire and grassland ecology, Renny enjoys spending time in the field, mentoring the next generation of practitioners, and growing Saskatchewan native wildflowers with his family.