Watch CTV News tonight at five p.m. or at six p.m. on Tuesday August 28, 2018 and learn about the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, a City of Saskatoon Urban Regional Park. See the six o’clock news version here!!! (Six O’clock is a better newscast as it is a fuller story, with Five O’Clock being a mini version)
Paul Hanley, the former free lance environmental columnist for the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, author of the best seller Eleven, personal friend of Richard St. Barbe Baker has been delving into the life of Richard St. Barbe Baker OBE, Hon. LL.D. F.I.A.L., For.Dip.Cantab., ACF (9 October 1889 – 9 June 1982) , a forester specialising in silviculture. St. Barbe was a very awesome pioneer environmentalist who planted trees worldwide to preserve the planet.
What is needed for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, and how can you help?
The very marvelous thing is that to get involved in shaping Saskatoon, as a citizen of this fair city, there is also an invitation to email communication division and share your feedback; “Better services start with you.”source
Please take time to view the Saskatoon Speaks You Tube video inviting you to make comments about what is important to you as the City of Saskatoon grows to 1/2 million by the year 2023. Do you want illegal trash dumping in the afforestation area, or do you think the sex trade should move out to the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Urban Regional Park? These activities were known about for years by the Saskatoon City Police, the public health nurse, and the former councillor, Pat Lorje. Why is there illegal dumping and the illicit sex trade allowed in an urban regional park?
Why has not the City of Saskatoon taken action to do something about it, like 1) posting signs proclaiming the forest an urban regional park named in honour of Richard St. Barbe Baker, and 2) erecting vehicle restriction barricades? Why does the City of Saskatoon condone and sanctify this activity by their abysmal lack of action? It is wonderful that the City of Saskatoon Police department is periodically flying patrols over the afforestation area and issuing fines.
What do you think? Are you proud of the City of Saskatoon or are you absolutely horrified by their permissive attitude in allowing a City of Saskatoon owned park to allow illegal activity?
“An accessory is a person who assists in the commission of a crime, but who does not actually participate in the commission of the crime as a joint principal. The distinction between an accessory and a principal is a question of fact and degree:
The principal is the one whose acts or omissions, accompanied by the relevant mens rea (Latin for “guilty mind”), are the most immediate cause of the actus reus (Latin for “guilty act”)…..
in R v J. F. Alford Transport Ltd (1997) 2 Cr. App. R. 326 it was held a reasonable inference that a company, knowing that its employees are acting illegally and deliberately doing nothing to prevent it from being repeated, actually intends to encourage the repetition. This will be a natural inference in any situation where the alleged accessory has the right to control what the principal is doing.”
So where does the City of Saskatoon stand in this light, are they acting as an accessory to illegal activity being carried out in a City of Saskatoon owned urban regional park – The Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? There has been no direct action by the City of Saskatoon to stop the illegal activity with vehicle restrictions over a course of many many years, so the illegal trespass has been repeated as was spoken to by CTV news. The eastern side of The Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and the SW off leash recreation area are safe and unencumbered by any illegal trespass because of properly installed vehicle restriction barriers and signs.
The current city councillor Ward 2 is Hilary Gough Hilary.Gough@Saskatoon.ca:
The former Honourable Pat Lorje, Councillor Ward 2 City of Saskatoon City of Saskatoon Council spoke to the Enquiry April 25, 2016.
- Can/will it be declared Municipal Reserve and added to the city’s park space inventory?
- What measures can be taken in both the short term (since there is no current budget for this) and the long term to enclose the area in order to prevent unlawful dumping of garbage and trespass by motorized vehicles, including snowmobiles and ATVs? This could include measures such as strategically-placed boulder, gates and fencing.
- Can/will the city provide resources to pick up the accumulated garbage in the area? This could be accomplished by either city crews picking up this garbage, or by giving assistance for landfill tipping fees for community volunteers to start the clean-up of this significant urban asset.
- What plans are there to consult with community groups, stakeholders and adjacent residents to develop a possible program for the area including the South West Concept Plan development?
The Richard St. Barbe Afforestation Area currently resides in City of Saskatoon Land Titles Office. The Land Titles Office is in the business of buying and selling land and has no money allocated to the care and upkeep of the Richard St. Barbe Afforestation Area . The Parks Department has a mandate of taking care of City of Saskatoon parks. So therefore, the Richard St. Barbe Afforestation Area, should be in Municipal Reserve and also in city park space inventory. The Land Titles Office has no money for signs to announce the urban regional park as the City of Saskatoon Richard St. Barbe Afforestation Area, nor does the Land Titles Office have any money to install barricades to mitigate illegal trespass by motorized vehicle into a city park. Can you help?
What is needed for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, and how can you help?
The very marvelous thing is that to get involved in shaping Saskatoon, as a citizen of this fair city, there is also an invitation to email communication division and share your feedback; “Better services start with you.”source
Please take time to view the Saskatoon Speaks You Tube video inviting you to make comments about what is important to you as the City of Saskatoon grows to 1/2 million by the year 2023. The current city councillor Ward 2 is Hilary Gough Hilary.Gough@Saskatoon.ca
Contact the Meewasin Valley Authority in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The MVA has begun a Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area trust fund. If you wish to support the afforestation area with your donation, write a cheque to the “Meewasin Valley Authority Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area trust fund (MVA RSBBAA trust fund)”. Post to MVA 402 Third Avenue South Saskatoon, SK S7K 3G5 Please and thank you! Sending a donation to the “Meewasin Valley Authority Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area trust fund (MVA RSBBAA trust fund)” means that this urban regional park receives the help it needs specifically. The MVA does many wondrous works in many areas, the river trails, Cranberry Flats Conservation Area, Beaver Creek, etc, which is fantastic, however a fund is needed for this particular urban regional park ” Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ” which is why the MVA started the “Meewasin Valley Authority Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area trust fund (MVA RSBBAA trust fund)”
For more information Environmental Resource Violations and the Province of Saskatchewan Illegal Dumping and the associated City of Saskatoon bylaws, Fire at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Fire and Protective Services Bylaw 7790, Recreation Facilities and Use Bylaw 7767, City of Saskatoon Official Community Plan Bylaw 8769, and the City of Saskatoon Bylaw No. 8310 The Waste Bylaw
PRAYER FOR THE TREES
We thank Thee God! for thy Trees,
Thou contest very near to us through thy Trees.
From them we have beauty, wisdom, love,
The air we breathe, the water we drink,
the food we eat and the strength.Help us, Oh God!
to give our best to life
and leave the world
a little more beautiful and worthy
of having lived in it.Prosper thou our planting
and establish thy kingdom of love
and understanding on the Earth.~Richard St. Barbe Baker
For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park
For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
For more information:
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063
Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot
Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com
Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map
Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map
Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park
Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)
Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!
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| Membership : $20.00 CAD – yearly Membership with donation : $50.00 CAD Membership with donation : $100.00 CAD |
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What was Richard St. Barbe Baker’s mission, that he imparted to the Watu Wa Miti, the very first forest scouts or forest guides? To protect the native forest, plant ten native trees each year, and take care of trees everywhere.
“We stand in awe and wonder at the beauty of a single tree. Tall and graceful it stands, yet robust and sinewy with spreading arms decked with foliage that changes through the seasons, hour by hour, moment by moment as shadows pass or sunshine dapples the leaves. How much more deeply are we moved as we begin to appreciate the combined operations of the assembly of trees we call a forest.”~Richard St. Barbe Baker
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park. 
One of the best things happening in some parts of Australia is the growing of shelter belts around the fence lines of pasture and crop lands.
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This is a great idea. The afforestation area was planted in 1972 as a tree nursery originally, and the parks department left fire breaks within the afforested area. It would be swell if this afforestation area had a growth of willow planted around the wetlands to protect the shoreline birds, ducks, geese, and herons. The wetlands conjoin the Chappell Marsh Conservation Area, and the environmental protections afforded by Ducks Unlimited. It would be so swell if the wetlands in the forest were also protected now that the area is seeing an exponential increase in users, and when the city expands around the afforestation area completely over the next five years, the users in the forest will again expand exponentially. Richard St. Barbe Baker, himself,
was instrumental in many of the shelter belts used in North America during the drought of the “dirty thirties”
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