The Alberta Government has announced a province-wide fire ban, while also asking Albertans to reconsider their recreational plans.

Environment and Parks Minister Shannon Phillips and Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Oneil Carlier made the announcement Thursday afternoon, adding however it isn’t a full forest closure.

“We are imploring people to reconsider their recreational activities this weekend, so as to ensure that we do not divert necessary resources from where they ought to be,” she said.

ATV use on Crown land is not banned, but highly discouraged.

Phillips said along with the fire restrictions already in place, this is a rare step for the government to make.

“There are economic consequences to a province-wide fire ban that must be taken into account,” she said. “There are consequences for our campgrounds, our private recreational facilities and so on, and so we needed to make this decision with full information, with what we knew about what was happening with precipitation and dryness throughout the province.”

Carlier said no more burning permits were being allowed and even those that had been handed out earlier were being rescinded.

“We really feel that Albertans will step up to the plate,” he said.