Prescribed Burn Asscociations: Neighbours helping neighbours

Prescribed Burn Associations (PBAs) are community-led groups where landowners, producers, and local partners pool their knowledge, training and equipment to put good fire on the ground. Instead of each landowner facing challenges of burning alone, members support one another through planning, preparation and the burn itself.

This model matters because fire is a natural part of the prairie ecosystems. Prescribed fire activities help renew grasslands, support biodiversity, improve habitat and forage and reduce hazardous fuel build-up.

PBAs make this work safer and more accessible by building local skills, sharing resources and creating trust within communities.

In Canada, we currently have just one: The Stuartburn Prescribed Burn Association in Southeast Manitoba. Led by local residents, it is safely bringing fire back to the landscape through burns, training, and education, and it is what a community can accomplish when neighbours work together, and it offers a strong example for others across the prairies.

At CPPFE, we are excited to see this model grow and we hope that Stuartburn is only the first of many.