Residents call for military survival training to leave fire-ravaged Nopiming park

NOPIMING PROVINCIAL PARK · Residents of Manitoba's Nopiming Provincial Park are calling for a long-running military survival school to be relocated, fearing its fire-making exercises pose a risk to a forest still reeling from a devastating wildfire. The Canadian Forces School of Survival and Aeromedical Training has resumed operations in an unburned area of the park this fall, alarming locals who were forced to flee their homes last year. The school trains Air Force members in wilderness survival skills, including shelter construction and firemaking, under an agreement with the Manitoba government. Its base on Springer Lake was heavily damaged in the 2025 wildfire, and its permanent structures have not been rebuilt.

Pat Popp, who lives full time on Bird Lake, said seeing uniformed personnel back in the woods near her home has reignited the trauma of the evacuation. "They are so close to my home. I mean, we’ve been worried about this for years: these fires that they start and can so easily get out of control," Popp said. "It’s just so stressful knowing that this much of the park is gone and now they’re pushing them into this small area." Popp and her husband were evacuated for five weeks in May 2025 after a lightning-sparked wildfire grew to nearly 4,000 square kilometres, charring much of the boreal forest park northeast of Winnipeg.

The school's program returned to Nopiming in October 2025 following consultation and permits from Manitoba Parks, according to Capt. Ken Jacobson, a public affairs officer with CFB Winnipeg. He said modifications have been made to reduce resource use, such as limiting the number of trees cut for shelters. The military confirmed training is occurring this fall south of the Bird Lake cottage development in an area untouched by the fire. A provincial spokesperson said the agreement allows campfire training only from April to May and September to October, pending local fire restrictions, and requires firefighting equipment on site.

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Eric Reder, senior Manitoba campaigner with the Wilderness Committee, said his organization has pushed for the removal of the Springer Lake facility since at least 2014. "Military training can happen somewhere, but this isn’t the place for it," Reder said. "And now that the park is burnt, the area needs peace." In a report earlier this year, the committee recommended a moratorium on industrial activity and "disruptive military training exercises" to allow the park's vegetation and wildlife, including threatened boreal woodland caribou, to recover. Reder has documented remnants of temporary campgrounds and ATV track damage from the school's activities.

The agreement between the military and province, last reviewed in 2021, dictates where and under what conditions activities are permitted. It includes a provision allowing trees to be cut down during training, according to the province. Students may also fish and hunt small animals in accordance with provincial regulations but cannot harvest large game. In 2021, Popp wrote to the province expressing concerns about wildfire risks from open fires in makeshift camps. Then deputy minister of conservation and climate Jan Forster responded that parks staff had engaged with the Department of National Defence to ensure training is restricted during times of high to extreme fire danger. Another 2025 wildfire evacuee from nearby Flanders Lake, who asked not to be named, shared similar concerns about trainees making open fires near residential areas. The resident described the practice as a preventable risk, particularly in a region with peatlands that can harbour smouldering fires for months, and said it was unsettling to see military members arrive unannounced. While fire danger was extreme in northern Manitoba this year, the risk remained low in most of the south due to wetter conditions.

With files from The Narwhal and Winnipeg Free Press