Gustafson said it was not too bad for moisture last year even though there was not a lot of rain, as there was carryover from the previous wet season. However, things were starting to change by late summer. He usually sells surplus hay, but began to hold on to it in August as he figured they would be going in dry this year. He is concerned that if rain does not come soon, they will be feeding their cattle later and later, as grass is trying to come up and green, but it is too dry.
Gustafson said this could be like the 1980’s all over again. Although he was young then, he remembers his father saying it was as dry or drier than the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s. He also remembers travelling on a school bus around 1987 and seeing the dust rise from the dried up Whitewater Lake. Drivers would contact each other to see how far away the dust could be spotted. It sometimes was as far as Melita.
“We were going to the sloughs to get as much water as we could,” he remembers, “so we could get it for the cattle.”
This year, he has seen some lakes down by at least a foot in the bush. It is not only the dry conditions that are causing problems.
“The wind is the biggest enemy this year. We have probably only had five days where it was not over 20 miles an hour. That will dry things up pretty fast.”
As Gustafson said, the grass is not growing, and now there is damage being done by the dry weather. The grass is getting stunted and as time goes on there are fewer growing days. He grows corn for his cattle, and he is considering not planting it this year. He figures if it stays dry by the middle of May, it would be an easy decision. Millet might be a better choice, as it can be pushed into June.
“If we keep going three, four, five weeks without rain, it starts to get scary,” he stated.
It is scary in another way right now. Municipalities around the area have declared different versions of fire bans or restrictions. Souris-Glenwood, Grassland, Two Borders, Brenda-Waskada and Deloraine-Winchester are among those who have decided the time is right to restrict the ability of their citizens to light fires so far this season.
In Boissevain-Morton, a fire ban was placed on March 15. Fire Chief Martin Paradis said in making his decisions, he usually looks at what surface water is left over from a spring melt and whether the forecasts call for wind or rain. As well, he added they look at the first grass fire they get in the spring. They see how a fire behaves then to see if one is required or not.
Paradis said the Boissevain-Morton ban means fires - including but not limited to - burning crop residue, garbage-burning barrels/pits are not permitted. Only dry seasoned wood in a contained pit like in a backyard or campground is permitted. Caution should be taken around wooded and bushed areas like Whitewater Lake. Paradis said fines would depend on the severity of the fire and the time the department takes to extinguish it.
He added fire bans are something to take very seriously, especially when one looks at what happened recently in the Carberry area.
“All anyone needs to do is look on social media and see how many fire departments have been called out to large fires like what we have seen at the Camp Hughes fire which required multiple fire departments to help extinguish a fast moving fire being driven by the dry grass and high winds. Winds can change directions quickly and a fire that you thought was going to burn away can all of a sudden turn towards your property,” Paradis explained.
The province has certainly taken the situation seriously. On April 3, they released Level 2 travel restrictions on much of the province, including Turtle Mountain Provincial Park. This includes no travel by ATV or other off-road vehicle on backroads without a permit, camping restricted to developed campgrounds, campfires restricted to the hours between 8 pm and 8 am and the landing and launching of boats only permitted at developed shorelines.
Gustafson understands the concern in the Turtle Mountains. A fire is one of the things he fears most right now.
“A spark from a dirt bike could start it,” Gustafson stated. “You get on edge about it and for good reason. It could start from nothing, and it could get brutal pretty quick. You have to have bans. If something did happen, you would just feel horrible if you couldn’t control it. We are always trying to head off a wreck before it happens. It could potentially affect everyone in the Turtle Mountains.”
Paradis said the Turtle Mountain Provincial Park does not technically fall under the Boissevain-Morton Volunteer Fire Department’s jurisdiction, as it is under Manitoba Conservation. However, they could very well be called in to assist, especially for any structure fire as they have the equipment for it. Along with resources from Conservation, mutual aid and the Office of the Fire Commissioner, they have plans for fighting fires in wooded/bush areas. Some of their pumps can be detached off their truck and access local water sources. If the pumper and water tanker are near a water source, they can also draft water from it to replenish their supply, or haul water.
Access to the Turtle Mountains would be the biggest challenge, as everything would have to be hauled by hand.
“This can be very hard work and fatigue/burn out of firefighters can happen very quickly and bush fires in that type of environment can last days,” Paradis explained. “Additional resources would have to be called in to help out. I always have concerns about a fire within the provincial park and with the conditions that we have now with little or no moisture from winter/spring and no significant rain in the forecast it only make the conditions of a serious fire that much more likely.”
Paradis said he would like to see an inch or two of rain over the whole municipality or see the grass go green before a ban would be lifted.
Gustafson said two inches would be great. He would take snow at this point, also because it would melt slowly into the ground.
“Right now, anything Mother Nature would give us, I say ‘bring it on!’” Gustafson stated.
by PAUL RAYNER
Recorder staff