Reforestation project in N.W.T. presses on, with 1.5 million trees planted near Behchokǫ̀

Roslen Washie, a 25-year-old man from Behchokǫ, N.W.T., hopes one day he can point to the forest around his home and tell his children about the key role he played in restoring the burn area and bringing caribou to Tłı̨chǫ lands. 

"I wanna be able to tell my son, 'you see these trees? Your dad planted the majority of them,'" Washie said. 

A total of 13 million trees are being planted on Tłı̨chǫ lands in the next five years as part of an ambitious project aimed at fighting climate change, restoring ecosystems, bringing back boreal caribou habitat and creating jobs. 

It started with an agreement between the Tłı̨chǫ government, Let's Plant Trees and Tree Canada, signed in 2023 to plant 1 million trees, and expanded in 2025 with a $53-million investment — the bulk of that coming from Canada's 2 Billion Trees program – to plant another 12 million. 

The Tłı̨chǫ government has described it as the biggest tree-planting initiative to ever happen in the N.W.T.

A camp that was set up in a sand pit near Russell Lake outside of Behchokǫ last month consisted of about 110 people, including 80 crew members from the south, and 30 Tłı̨chǫ people. Together, they put the project's first spruce, tamarack and birch trees in the ground. Over the course of three weeks, they planted 1.5 million trees in all.

However, the effort was marked by tragedy in its opening days. 

Joshua Patenaude, a pilot with Great Slave Helicopters, was helping support the reforestation project on July 14 when his chopper crashed. He died despite first responders' efforts to save his life. Many of those who rushed to the scene were part of the tree planting project. 

Max Zoe, a climate change research co-ordinator with the Tłı̨chǫ government, who's helping co-ordinate the tree planting project, said the crew was given time off after the incident. Counsellors were also brought in to help people deal with what had happened. 

"We tried to recover the best we can," he said. "How do you move on from such tragedy? You just kind of have to, like, hold that stuff into your heart and, like, remember them and remember that the work is important." 

Noel Football, who helped collect seeds last year and who is now working on the project as a bear monitor and occasional tree planter, expressed sorrow too.  

"I'd like to say sorry about the chopper crash," he said. Football said a lot of the people involved were shocked about what had happened, and some needed time before they were ready to work again.

And with a narrow window to accomplish the work, he was also impressed by the team's capacity to get all the trees in the ground while processing their grief.

"They really are professionals," he said of the tree planters from the south. "Watching them, the way they move, I can't believe it. I don't know how they do it." 

Tree planting as an industry for the N.W.T.

One of the tree planting teams was a crew of Tłı̨chǫ people, trained this summer to do the work. 

"It's a great experience," said Washie, one of the locals, as he moved through the brush next to the Behchokǫ Access Road on a Tuesday morning last week. It was the final day of planting, and he still had a few bundles of seedlings stowed in the planting bags hung around his waist. 

"It's good for the land, it's good for the environment," he said. And with how the wildfires have burned a lot of Tłı̨chǫ land in recent years, he said, "it's a good opportunity to let these trees regrow for the future." 

Washie also sees a future in tree planting – for himself in the short-term, and for the N.W.T. in the long-term. 

He's hoping to plant trees with Spectrum Resources Group again next year as the project continues, and said it's an industry other regions of the territory could pursue as well. Washie envisions people from around the N.W.T. coming together and starting up their own tree planting company. 

"That would be great to see, as a young adult, for myself. I think that's a great employment opportunity for the Northwest Territories' residents."

The project pivots 

Josh Quaite, a reforestation operations division manager with Spectrum, said part of the plan had initially been to plant 500,000 seedlings around James Lake this year. 

That's about 23 kilometres from the Russell Lake area, where the tree planting camp had been set up and where the trees were being kept. Helicopters were being used to get trees and personnel out to the remote planting site. 

But grappling with the unexpected tragedy and a reluctance to fly, Quaite said Spectrum changed gears a bit. 

"To get into a helicopter after an event like that, it's pretty tough. And, you know, we just weren't ready to do that right away," he said.

Half the number of trees were planted around James Lake, and more – for a total of 1.25 million – were planted along the access roads into Behchokǫ and Russell Lake instead. 

Spectrum has planted trees for the purpose of post-fire and habitat restoration before, said Quaite, "but to do it on this scale is something else." 

'These ones are here to stay'

Football said learning to plant the trees felt good, having spent his life cutting them down for wood.

"I like doing this kind of work," he said. 

Football also said he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the seedlings for the first time this summer, after helping collect cones from trees on Tłı̨chǫ land last year so they could get a head start in southern nurseries. 

"And here I am, planting it? It's really nice."

Justin Issler, who has spent most of his two-year tree-planting career in British Columbia, likes the work as well. 

"This is my first time in the Northwest Territories," he said. 

It's flat and there's more rock and wetland areas to navigate in the N.W.T., he said, but the soil is nicer. He also appreciates the opportunity to plant what he described as "forever trees" – meaning the seedlings are intended to grow and reproduce on the land naturally, instead of eventually being chopped down by a large forestry industry.

"These ones are here to stay," he said.