AMA volunteers all set to get planting trees with Project Forest. | PHOTO: COURTESY OF AMA
COMMUNITY
Growing Forward
AMA is committed to fostering a future of vital reforestation and conservation.
By Elizabeth Chorney-Booth
AMA volunteers working with Project Forest to clear and replant land. | PHOTO: COURTESY OF AMA
Mike Toffan loves forests. As founder and executive director of the non-profit Project Forest, Toffan has built his career on protecting and maintaining the province’s majestic swaths of wilderness through replanting trees, creating awareness and taking a holistic approach to forest health. In an era when devastating forest fires seem to be dominating news cycles every summer, Toffan’s area of expertise has become increasingly vital. Toffan is far from alone in his love of Alberta’s awe-inspiring wilderness. For anyone — locals or visitors — seeing landscapes marked by fields of charred trunks left bare of branches and needles by recent fires in Jasper, Waterton and other parts of the province can be upsetting. It affects both tourism and the sense of pride Albertans take in their otherwise spectacular landscapes. It’s with this in mind that AMA is celebrating its Centennial by planting the final trees in a 200,000-tree reforestation effort. In partnership with Project Forest, it’s part of a continuing dedication to protecting Alberta’s natural beauty. Project Forest uses its rewilding expertise to bring lands, managed by private owners or Indigenous Nations, that were once forested back to their natural states. Toffan says the ecological and social impact of replanting land converted by humans in previous decades is essential to forest conservation. In addition to large trees, his teams plant a variety of smaller species — including those culturally important to Indigenous communities — to properly restore forests to their natural glory. “There are a lot of First Nations across the country where land was cleared inappropriately years ago, and the soils aren’t capable of producing an economical crop,” Toffan says. “But they’re very capable of producing a forest.”
The Project Forest planting team gets some final instruction before heading out to plant their saplings. | PHOTO: COURTESY OF PROJECT FOREST
Toffan and his team don’t typically replant on fire-damaged areas, partially because working on public land comes with major complications. The challenges range from having to deal with red tape to knowing that the work might be temporary, as Crown land can be redeveloped at any time. But it’s also because those areas wouldn’t necessarily benefit from their help. While fire-blackened forests can look severe, the actual impact on the landscape is far less harmful than it appears. The forest is resilient and adapted to recovering from fire as an ecological process. Jen Beverly, an associate professor at the University of Alberta specializing in wildland fires, says that while changes to the climate have caused an increase in the frequency and intensity of major wildfires — which can be concerning — they are part of any forest’s regenerative process. “These are ecosystems where high-intensity fires basically reset the forest, kill all the trees and set the stage for regeneration,” Beverly says. “The fire is doing its thing. It’s an actual process.” That doesn’t mean increased wildfire occurrences should go unchecked. Beverly’s research team teaches governments and municipalities how to mitigate wildfire damage through strategies such as removing highly flammable brush or the lower branches of trees that can create a “ladder effect,” allowing the fires to get out of control and destroy homes and businesses. The advice and tools her team provides don’t typically involve replanting, as she explains that “ecosystem resilience” is the natural process at work — the plants that existed prior to the fire will naturally grow back.
Parks Canada replanting Douglas fir trees in Buffalo Head Prairie, 2024. | PHOTO: COURTESY OF PARKS CANADA
“These are ecosystems where high-intensity fires basically reset the forest, kill all the trees and set the stage for regeneration. ”
Along the trails, information signs give insight into the transition the forest has experienced. | PHOTO: COURTESY OF PARKS CANADA
But even if Beverly’s research shows replanting burnt forests isn’t always necessary, other post-wildfire ecological restoration strategies are being enacted in Alberta. One of the concerns is ensuring invasive species don’t grow into a problem before the natural flora has a chance to grow back strong enough to stave it off. Marcia DeWandel, a Jasper-based vegetation restoration specialist at Parks Canada, says humans can take action to ensure forests have the best chance to bounce back after a wildfire event, particularly in areas with heavy visitation, such as camp sites and hiking trails. DeWandel’s work involves managing the introduction of invasive species. These can potentially be carried into an area on people’s shoes or by pets. After a wildfire, the land is vulnerable to invasive species. Park officials often block off hiking trails after a fire or install boot brushes and post signs asking visitors to clean off their shoes in order to reduce incoming seeds, insects, plants or fungi that could interrupt the return of native ecosystems. “Our strategies [focus on] trying to keep people out of these areas,” she says. “We need our forest to get a hold of things and regenerate on [its] own for a while; to at least get that first layer of natural plant cover before we let people back in.” Parks Canada is also involved with replanting in high-traffic areas, which, like Toffan’s restorations, include native grasses and non-woody flowering plants known as forbs. In Jasper, thanks to a robust seedling program that pre-dated the fire, Parks Canada also replanted a significant number of Douglas firs, which tend to be somewhat fire-resistant. National and provincial parks in other parts of Alberta receive similar plantings, but with tree species most appropriate to each climate and natural ecosystem. All these efforts — from Project Forest’s restoration and rewilding to the protection of forests from invasive species — are motivated by a responsibility to repair the damage that has been done over generations, but also by the profound impact nature has on people. Toffan believes that while protecting forests is important when it comes to climate change mitigation, giving people places where they can marvel at the power of the forest and celebrate the love of trees is what drives forest restoration work. “All the work that is happening when it comes to trees in nature has a direct correlation to people and what we’re leaving for future generations,” he says. “Homing in on that emotional connection and the emotional impact of the work is key to our story.” AMA
Ma Matow Sakow Healing Forest
(From left) With saplings in hand, Mike Toffan, founder and executive director of the non-profit Project Forest, shares information on the process of reforestation; former Wetaskiwin City Councillor Gabrielle Blatz, with Elder Ivy Raine, who helped to guide the project. | PHOTOS: COURTESY OF PROJECT FOREST
In addition to working with AMA on the Centennial Forests, Project Forest partnered with the AMA Community Foundation in the creation of the Ma Matow Sakow Healing Forest (the Cree name translates to “Miracle Forest”), an urban planting on a former construction landfill in Wetaskiwin. The AMA Community Foundation contributed $100,000 to purchase 8,600 trees that will be planted by spring 2026. The planting kicked off with an event in August 2025 that brought AMA staff and members, Indigenous communities and the people of Wetaskiwin together for a day of planting and connection.
“It was really inspiring to see how many people wanted to take part in building this forest and bringing it back to nature,” says AMA Community Foundation executive director Karina Dixon. “We want the community of Wetaskiwin to be able to go out and enjoy it while bringing themselves back into nature.”
“It was really inspiring to see how many people wanted to take part in building this forest and bringing it back to nature. ”
For Project Forest, the Ma Matow Sakow Healing Forest is important because it serves the organization’s commitment to restoring land to its original forested state, and also connects people with both nature and each other. In addition to trees, the Healing Forest features plants that are culturally significant to the region’s First Nations. The legacy of the forest will not just be providing a place for people to gather, but also in building an ecosystem to honour Cree culture and knowledge of the land.
“Reconciliation, both ecologically and socially, can only move forward ethically and honestly when we have the full involvement of the people who call this land home,” says Mike Toffan, executive director of Project Forest.
(From top) With saplings in hand, Mike Toffan, founder and executive director of the non-profit Project Forest, shares information on the process of reforestation; former Wetaskiwin City Councillor Gabrielle Blatz, with Elder Ivy Raine, who helped to guide the project. | PHOTOS: COURTESY OF PROJECT FOREST
In addition to working with AMA on the Centennial Forests, Project Forest partnered with the AMA Community Foundation in the creation of the Ma Matow Sakow Healing Forest (the Cree name translates to “Miracle Forest”), an urban planting on a former construction landfill in Wetaskiwin. The AMA Community Foundation contributed $100,000 to purchase 8,600 trees that will be planted by spring 2026. The planting kicked off with an event in August 2025 that brought AMA staff and members, Indigenous communities and the people of Wetaskiwin together for a day of planting and connection.
“It was really inspiring to see how many people wanted to take part in building this forest and bringing it back to nature,” says AMA Community Foundation executive director Karina Dixon. “We want the community of Wetaskiwin to be able to go out and enjoy it while bringing themselves back into nature.”
“It was really inspiring to see how many people wanted to take part in building this forest and bringing it back to nature. ”
For Project Forest, the Ma Matow Sakow Healing Forest is important because it serves the organization’s commitment to restoring land to its original forested state, and also connects people with both nature and each other. In addition to trees, the Healing Forest features plants that are culturally significant to the region’s First Nations. The legacy of the forest will not just be providing a place for people to gather, but also in building an ecosystem to honour Cree culture and knowledge of the land.
“Reconciliation, both ecologically and socially, can only move forward ethically and honestly when we have the full involvement of the people who call this land home,” says Mike Toffan, executive director of Project Forest.
