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The Tthets’éhk’édélı̨ First Nation in Jean Marie River is marking the end of a two-week-long tree planting project that saw 1.5 million trees planted in recently burned areas.
The project was a partnership between the First Nation and Windfirm Resources, a British Columbia-based planting company that employed people locally and from across Canada.
It was funded through the federal government’s 2 Billion Trees program, which launched in 202`1 but was ultimately cut from last fall’s federal budget.
About 70 people live in Jean Marie River, NWT. They got some help planting more than a million new trees. Here’s the celebration at the end, on July 12, 2026. #treeplanting #canada #northerncanada #northwestterritories #spectacularnwt Advertisement. Advertisement.
“The chief and the council looked at this as a good opportunity for finding employment for a small community of Jean Marie River,” said Chief Melanie Norwegian-Menacho at a Sunday celebration of the work.
Kevan Leach, operations manager at Windfirm, said members of the Tthets’éhk’édélı̨ First Nation did a lot of the heavy lifting in the project, including building trails to access the planting blocs.
He said the plots of land had been burned twice by wildfires in recent years, resulting in what he described as “mostly barren land.”
Crew leader Charles Desfossés said for many of the tree planters, the project offered a new opportunity.
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“Normally in tree planting we work with the forestry industry, and the goal is to plant trees that are going to be cut down,” said Desfossés.
“But these ones, since they’re with the 2 Billion Trees program, they’re going to live forever, hopefully.
“I think the planters all around camp really appreciated that aspect of the project.”
Jake Stewardson, a supervisor at Windfirm, said the crews were planting a variety of species of trees.
“It’s always nice to do reclamation work where the trees we plant will be the future forest for tomorrow,” said Stewardson.
