The Trembling Aspen is also referred to as the Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx) May 25, 2019
The city of Saskatoon Urban Forestry did a Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area tree inventory in 2017, and are planning a George Genereux Urban Regional Park tree inventory in 2020 Why is this important? Plant Protection Survey
Just as humans must pay attention to our pandemics such as COVID-19, by checking in with our trees, we help nature during the course of their pandemics also (such as Dutch Elm Disease).
During this Coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak please stay well and healthy and follow protocols set by City of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Health and Health Canada in regards to the Coronavirus. Best wishes to you all.
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 SW 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
Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail / e-transfers )
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!
“St. Barbe’s unique capacity to pass on his enthusiasm to others. . . Many foresters all over the world found their vocations as a result of hearing ‘The Man of the Trees’ speak. I certainly did, but his impact has been much wider than that. Through his global lecture tours, St. Barbe has made millions of people aware of the importance of trees and forests to our planet.” Allan Grainger
“The science of forestry arose from the recognition of a universal need. It embodies the spirit of service to mankind in attempting to provide a means of supplying forever a necessity of life and, in addition, ministering to man’s aesthetic tastes and recreational interests. Besides, the spiritual side of human nature needs the refreshing inspiration which comes from trees and woodlands. If a nation saves its trees, the trees will save the nation. And nations as well as tribes may be brought together in this great movement, based on the ideal of beautifying the world by the cultivation of one of God’s loveliest creatures – the tree.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker.
“I believe in the Oneness of Mankind and all living things and the interdependence of each and all.”Richard St. Barbe Baker
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“Be gentle – gentle – gentle with the tree,….Put your hands like this to bless it…I want you to feel your love going out from your fingertips to the …[tree], and, you know, this will help it grow, make it happy…We love to be blessed don’t we? And the trees love to be blessed. ..” ~Richard St. Barbe Baker
Snowfall Saturday September 22 2018 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Saskatoon, SK, CA
The planning studies of the P4G includes Corman Park, Saskatoon, Warman, Martensville and Osler, includes the area around Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, and George Genereux Urban Regional Park.
Baby Deer ~ Fawn
Is there anything I can do?
“Rethinking Boundaries.
The issues of who owns what, and off site issues such as noise, have a huge impact on the way a site can work as a landscape. The way in which a site has been defined should be kept in mind when any project starts…Our work, more often than note, is about how people use spaces, how they live in places, what they do, how they walk, dance, play, and rest. Designing for people has the added benefit of empowering a proprietary population, people who will not only care about but care for the landscape.”Ruddick, Margie. Wild by Design. Island Press. Washington. 2016
“The Rural Commercial/Industrial category accommodates general commercial and industrial uses, including lightly-serviced industrial, storage, and commercial areas that require a large land base. This area shall be differentiated into Rural Commercial and Rural Industrial areas through future planning” Saskatoon North Partnership for Growth Regional Plan May 2017
George Genereux Urban Regional Park is quarter section is 160 acres or one forth of a square mile which is a very very small amount of land in comparison to the massive number of sections under review and planning currently.(source and map page 26-27)
The land surrounding George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation area) as previously mentioned is rural commercial/industrial area and takes up approximately 11 quarter sections of land (See map)- so how will the land planning affect the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation area)? (source and map page 26-27)
How will the city of Saskatoon and greater metropolitan area tackle the particular benefits of the George Genereux urban regional park? How will the George Genereux Urban Regional Park be preserved in perpetuity, as per the 1972 proclamation by the City of Saskatoon during this next phase of expansion? As the population of the greater metropolitan area designs ever increasing land masses for commercial, industrial, and residential, where sill the quarter section of land afforested end up?
Did you know that trees, forests, and afforestation areas do help protect you from carcinogens!!!! So in the middle of a rural commercial/industrial area, the George Genereux Urban Regional Park would mitigate harmful emissions which arise from rural industrial activities. As rural and urban residents the information from long range planning provides a safer and healthier space for everyone to live and reside. Building our urban forest is an amazing testament to both the city and the P4G planners.
“Our green space is more than just beautiful – it provides an abundance of ecological services. Purifying the air we breathe and the water in which we swim and drink are but a few examples. The cumulative benefits of these life-sustaining services provided by the urban canopy have been valued at more than $80-million annually. Ecological services such as these help to remediate some of the negative health effects brought on by industrial activities and the resulting pollution. ” Prevention as the cure: How trees help protect you from carcinogens December 18, 2014
Saskatoon North Partnership for Growth (P4G) includes the City of Saskatoon, the Rural Municipality of Corman Park 344, City of Martensville, Town of Osler, City of Warman, Saskatchewan Regional Economic Development Authority (SREDA). The P4G meets in the effort to expand the city of Saskatoon, and surrounding environs to between 273,000 and 301,000 by 2020; 302,000 and 349,000 by 2025; 333,000 and 405,000 by 2030; and between 368,000 and 470,000 by 2035. (source) As a matter of fact Saskatoon eyes 1M population in 50 years.
“The prescription for this new global market economy is to rob federal governments of all legitimate roles in setting standards, whether for the health of the people or the environment. Deregulation and decentralization become dominant policy since all regulations are viewed as violations of the freedom of the market. Laws protecting wildlife, natural resources like forests, or for that matter, the quality of air, water and soil, or the integrity of biodiversity, are viewed as unacceptable obstacles in the part of the market’s role in mediating all matters. Still another aspect of the new global order is privatization. The private sector is to be trusted to apply the laws of the marketplace to all matters social and environmental. The test for response to toxins in our environment is to measure the harm of continued use against the alleged greater economic harm of a ban, even if the substance is a carcinogen, the benefits being easier to quantify than the harm, when it involves human pain and suffering. ” Knelman, F.H. , Ph.D. The Sociology of Health The Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine Vol. 11, 3rd Quarter 1996
“The trees and vegetation, which cover the land surface of the Earth and delight the eye, are performing vital tasks incumbent upon the vegetable world in nature. Its presence is essential to earth as an organism. It is the first condition of all life; it it the ‘skin’ of the earth, for without it there can be no water, and therefore, no life.” Richard St. Barbe Baker
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
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!
On any maps showing the city and RM of Corman Park 344, the small square extending west from SK Highway 7 is “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is south of Chappell Yards CNR train station, and north of Township Road 362 A (Cedar Villa Road) Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is west of the Civic Operations Center (Bus Barns and Snow Dump facility), and east of the Saskatoon Italian Center and Saskatchewan Highway 7.
“George Genereux” Urban Regional Park is directly diagonal across Saskatchewan Highway 7 east. “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park is a quarter section of afforested land. Both “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park and Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area were purchased by the City of Saskatoon in 1960 and afforested in a 1972 “War Against Ecology Abuse” programme by the City of Saskatoon Parks Department to be used as a tree nursery. 1972, A. L. Ligtemoet, Assistant Parks Superintendent sets before city council that these first 660 acres of afforestation areas be kept in perpetuity and this is approved. The trees are much too big to transplant now, in 1979, the naming included Urban Regional Park in the title.
Both Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park received their respective names October 19 1978 (proposal to City Council) – October 30, 1978 (vote by city to approve and finalize). The name “George Genereux” was taken for a pocket park in another area of Saskatoon, leaving this urban regional park without a name.
Forest Picture: George Genereux Urban Regional Park looking east from CNR Overpass SK Hwy 7
“The clearest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness.” John Muir
Who was George Genereux?
George Genereux (March 1 1935- April 10, 1989) was a seventeen year old high school student in 1952 when he won the Olympic Games Gold Medal for trap-shooting at the Summer Olympc Games held in Helsinki, Finland with 192 out of 200. This was Canada’s first gold medal at the olympics since 1932. Further to this honour, Genereux was bestowed the Lou Marsh Trophy for being Canada’s outstanding amateur athlete of the year, making him the youngest person in history to receive this honour. The City of Saskatoon declared Genereux “Citizen of the Year” in 1952. Canada honoured him as male athlete of 1952. Genereux was installed in the Canada Sports Hall of Fame (1955), Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame on October 31 of 1966, inducted into the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame 1986 and the Trapshooting Hall of Fame (1986).(Source, Source, Source,Source, Source and City of Saskatoon archives)
Genereux was born to Dr. Arthur Genereux (b1901 Lethbridge AB – March 12, 1975) and Catherine (d 1964).(Source) At the age of 16, Genereux was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, which ended his sporting career in trap shooting when he was 20.(Source and Source)
Genereux started training with his father, Dr. A.F. Genereux, and Jimmy Girgulis when he was 12 years old. James “Jim” Girgulis, himself won the Canadian Team Trap Shooting Campionship in 1939 and 1941. Further, Girgulis, won every trap shooting event held across Western Canada. Genereux went on to trap shooting events across Canada and the United States. At the age of 13 Genereux won the Midwestern International Handicap Honours, then he acquired 3 successive Manitoba – Saskatchewan junior titles. (source) Genereux won the Junior Championship of North America at the Grand American Handicap, held in Vandalia, Ohio in 1951. During this event, Genereux broke 199 clay pigeons out of 200. Genereux also placed second in the Oslo, Norway World Championships, 1952. (Source, Source, Source and City of Saskatoon archives)
Genereux, attended the University of Saskatchewan to earn his Arts and Sciences degree, then he went on the McGill University to study Medicine graduated 1960. Dr. George Genereux was for years a Professor of Radiology at the Royal University Hospital, Saskatoon.
The biography submitted to City Council stated that “It is considered appropriate to select in his honour this particular tract of semi-wilderness with its favorable habitat for wildlife of many kinds.”
Genereux is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery along with his mother and father. Genereux died April 10, 1989.
“At the time of his death he was working with three other internationally known specialists on the third and fourth volumes of a study of chest diseases. ..Despite his own bad health, Genereux worked to advance the cause of medical knowledge. If you can’t help yourself, you should use your God-given talents to help others,’ he said in one interview.” Saskatoon Star Phoenix April 11, 1989
The above map shows the relation of the afforestation areas to the West Swale, and its confluence at Yorath Island. The West Swale, and the deposition of Yorath Island were created from the Pleistocene era “Yorath Island Spillway” event.
“Trees exhale for us so that we can inhale them to stay alive. Can we ever forget that? Let us love trees with every breath we take until we perish.”
― Munia Khan
When walking in either “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park or the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area they can be seen one from the other by peering under the CNR overpass.
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
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!
With spirit we are all children of the cosmos; Without it we are orphaned and adrift.
Deepak Chopra
“Healing the broken bond between children and nature may seem to be an overwhelming, even impossible task. But we must hold the conviction that the direction of this trend can be changed, or at least slowed. The alternative to holding and acting on that belief is unthinkable for human health and for the natural environment. The environmental attachment theory is a good guiding principle: attachment to land is good for child and land.” Richard Louv
“The future of the planet concerns all of us, and all of us should do what we can to protect it. ” Wangari Maathai.
A Stantec report showed potential heritage concerns south of Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation area and north of Hodgson Road. Currently the West Connector Route for the proposed provincial Saskatoon Freeway shows Hodgson road as the main access onto Valley Road and into the city of Saskatoon.
The planning studies of the P4G includes Corman Park, Saskatoon, Warman, Martensville and Osler, includes the area around Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, and George Genereux Urban Regional Park.
The planning studies of the P4G includes Corman Park, Saskatoon, Warman, Martensville and Osler, includes the area around Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, and George Genereux Urban Regional Park.
The planning studies of the P4G includes Corman Park, Saskatoon, Warman, Martensville and Osler, includes the area around Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, and George Genereux Urban Regional Park.
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, SK, CA
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
So the new name for Saskatchewan Highway 7 travelling northwards within city limits is Neault Road. Neault Road naming is the north south route beginning just south of Hart Road, and north of the CNR railway overpass where Sk Highway 7 takes a corner (from travelling diagonally south west across the province to a turn where it extends due north). Sk Highway 7 is a major road which connects the City of Saskatoon with Vanscoy, Laura, Delisle, Zealandia, Rosetown, Fiske, Netherhill, Kindersley, and Alsask when you drive south west out of the City. Sk Highway 7 also is the highway to gain access to Provincial Highway 60 to Pike Lake Provincial Park. (Map) (Sk Hwy 7 Route)
Travelling north on Neault Road in Saskatoon does connect rurally with the Dalmeny Access road (highway 684). (map)
The proposed Saskatoon Freeway North route will run north and south alongside but west of Neault Road, in such a way connecting Sk Highway 14 (22nd Street West) to the proposed new Saskatoon Freeway (north end of Saskatoon). This proposed Saskatoon Freeway (bridge) will be north of 71 Street (Auction Mart Road) about one mile north of the newly opened Chief Mistawisis Bridge (Marquis Drive and the North Commuter Parkway).(map)
This new Saskatoon Freeway route is a provincial initiative, and is a topic of the P4G meetings. (Draft Regional Plan)
Saskatoon North Partnership for Growth (P4G) includes the City of Saskatoon, the Rural Municipality of Corman Park 344, City of Martensville, Town of Osler, City of Warman, Saskatchewan Regional Economic Development Authority (SREDA). The P4G meets in the effort to expand the city of Saskatoon, and surrounding environs to between 273,000 and 301,000 by 2020; 302,000 and 349,000 by 2025; 333,000 and 405,000 by 2030; and between 368,000 and 470,000 by 2035. (source) As a matter of fact Saskatoon eyes 1M population in 50 years.
The area around George Genereux Urban Regional Park will be surrounded by rural commercial/industrial growth according to the P4G plans. George Genereux Urban Regional Park land area was annexed from the RM of Corman Park 344 on September 1, 2015, and the north, south and west borders of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park are also concurrent with the City limits boundary. The eastern boundary of George Genereux Urban Regional Park is SK Hwy 7 at the CNR overpass. This being said both Saskatoon, and the RM of Corman Park are involved in the P4G progress.(source and map page 26-27)
A Stantec report showed potential heritage concerns south of Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation area and north of Hodgson Road. The southern border of the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation area is also the southern city limits boundary, across Cedar Villa Road (Township Road 362A) is Cedar Villa Estates and Chappell Marsh Conservation Area in the RM of Corman Park 344. Currently the West Connector Route for the proposed provincial Saskatoon Freeway shows Hodgson road as the main access onto Valley Road and into the city of Saskatoon. As Saskatoon and the P4G area grows in population density, employment sectors are needed as well as housing.
An employment sector includes a development of shopping malls, offices, and industrial areas for the economic trade of goods and services, to provide jobs for the projected, 300,000; 400,000 and 500,000 population density. The City of Saskatoon has a Strategic plan 2013-2023 which encompasses seven strategic goals.(Plan) (pdf details of plan)
The Saskatoon North Partnership for Growth Regional Plan and further information for areas mainly north and north west of Saskatoon are online. The Saskatoon North Partnership for Growth and Regional Planning is taking into consideration Natural and Heritage Resources The guiding principals of the P4G will take into account the guiding principles of Partnership, Efficiency, Sustainability, Opportunity, Equity + Inclusiveness, Flexiblity + Resilience and will follow 7 strategic directions; Regional infrastructure + services, Settlement patterns + complete communities, Regional economy + economic development, Quality of life, Governance + funding, Natural environment + drainage, along with Agriculture + Natural resources.
[P4G] “Regional Wetlands Inventory and Policy
Although the Green Network Refinement Study is intended to provide a comprehensive assessment of the Green Network to inform the future management of these areas for conservation and drainage functions, there is a lack of compiled information about the type, location, and importance of wetlands across the Region. Providing an inventory for the Region will support efforts by municipalities and P4G to conserve and protect important wetlands in the short-term.
In the longer term, a Regional Wetlands Policy may be developed to support wetlands protection, conservation, and enhancement across the Region. This Policy would complement the policies for the Green Network Study Area, and detail provisions for managing wetlands across the Region; coordinating conservation, mitigation, and enhancement projects; and linking wetlands protection with flood management and control.”(source)
The George Genereux Urban Regional Park, and Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Areas are both classified as wetlands according to Stantec, and provide for planning purposes, the mitigation of flood waters. The West Swale is a low lying geological feature created from the Pleistocene Yorath Island Spillway. The Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located within the west swale, and the George Genereux Urban Regional Park, is located between the west swale and the CNR railway tracks. 1972, A. L. Ligtemoet, Assistant Parks Superintendent sets before council that these first 660 acres of afforestation areas be kept in perpetuity, this is approved.
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
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!
“The future of the planet concerns all of us, and all of us should do what we can to protect it. ” Wangari Maathai.
“The science of forestry arose from the recognition of a universal need. It embodies the spirit of service to mankind in attempting to provide a means of supplying forever a necessity of life and, in addition, ministering to man’s aesthetic tastes and recreational interests. Besides, the spiritual side of human nature needs the refreshing inspiration which comes from trees and woodlands. If a nations saves its trees, the trees will save the nation. And nations as well as tribes may be brought together in this great movement, based on the ideal of beautifying the world by the cultivation of one of God’s loveliest creatures – the tree.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker.
If you look at a tree and think of it as a design assignment, it would be like asking you to make something that makes oxygen, sequesters carbon, fixes nitrogen, distills water, provides habitat for hundreds of species, accrues solar energy’s fuel, makes complex sugars and food, changes colors with the seasons, creates microclimates, and self-replicates. William McDonough
Rabbit
Northern Leopard Frog
“The worst thing that will probably happen—in fact is already well underway—is not energy depletion, economic collapse, conventional war, or the expansion of totalitarian governments. As terrible as these catastrophes would be for us, they can be repaired in a few generations. The one process now going on that will take millions of years to correct is loss of genetic and species diversity by the destruction of natural habitats. This is the folly our descendants are least likely to forgive us.”— Edward O. Wilson
Baird’s Sparrow (Ammodramus bairdii)
Song sparrow Melospiza melodia
Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus
In the past we have not designed gardens that play a critical ecological role in the landscape, but we must do so in the future. The importance of our doing this cannot be overstated. We need to quickly replace unnecessary lawn with densely planted woodlots in the East and West, and natural prairies in the Midwest; whatever can serve as habitat for our local biodiversity. Homeowners can do this… Our studies have shown that even modest increases in the native plant cover on suburban properties significantly increases the number and species of breeding birds, including birds of conservation concern.~ Doug Tallamy
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
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!
“I believe with Ruskin, that I must be just to the Earth beneath my feet, to the neighbour by my side and to the Light that comes from above and within that this wonderful world of ours may be a little more beautiful and happy form my having lived in it. “Richard St. Barbe Baker.
‘I will have nothing to do with this destruction of life, I will play no part in this devastation of the land, I am determined to live and …today it is the duty of every thinking being to live, and to serve not only his own day and generation, but also generations unborn by helping to restore and maintain the green glory of the forests of the earth. Richard St. Barbe Baker
Richard St. Barbe Baker
Treatment of Climate Change is much expanded as a result of recent research at the local university and we learn fascinating details of the many fluctuations from Pleistocene times to the present day warming trend.E.R. Ward Neale
Much debate has surrounded the late Pleistocene extinction of large animals. In North America, most extinctions took place within a narrow time interval, between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago…. The wave of extinctions coincided with rapid climatic changes at the end of the last glaciation. Climatic changes led to major alterations in vegetation cover on which herbivores depended, which precipitated an ecological crisis for large land animals.James S. Aber
Can you imagine walking in the footsteps of the great Giant Beaver, the Mastodon, or the American Cheetah? 12,700 years ago, 90 genera of mammals weighing over 44 kilograms 100 pounds) became extinct.
Was glacial Lake Agassiz home to the nine foot long sabertooth salmon? Would giant tortoises be walking the beaches of Glacial Lake Saskatoon I alongside the spectacular armadillo and the giant armadillo-like Glyptotherium?
Looking out over the Glacial Lakes, would giant beavers be building dams along side the glacier ice dams? Giant tortoises weighing 417 kg (919 lb) and reaching a length of 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in). Whereas Giant Beavers, Castoroides, would a length between 1.9 m (6.2 ft), and 2.2 m (7.2 ft) had a weight of 90 kg (198 lb) to 125 kg (276 lb).
When you are out in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, are you walking in the footsteps of the giant sloths and short-faced bears weighing 900 kg (1 short ton). Would you meet up with the American lions (1.6–2.5 m long (5 ft 3 in–8 ft 2 in)), dire wolves, “American cheetahs” (Miracinonyx -weighing 70 kg (150 lb)) or with saber-toothed cats like Smilodon and the scimitar cat, Homotherium? The saber toothed cat, Smilodon populator, is thought to weigh up to 400 kg (880 lb).
Can you just see the camelid animals such as two species of now extinct llamas and Camelops. And what of the other mammals, two species of bison; stag-moose; the shrub-ox and Harlan’s muskox; the 14 species of pronghorn (of which 13 are now extinct); horses; mammoths and mastodons.
Native horses and camels galloped across the plains of North America. Great teratorn birds with 25-foot wingspans stalked prey.David Polly
When you look up during your time travel excursion to the Pleistocene era, there would be birds such as giant condors and other teratorns soaring in the air overhead. One of these birds, Aiolornis incredibilis (formerly Teratornis incredibilis), of the teratorn family, was the largest known North American capable of flying possessing a wingspan of up to about 5 m (16 ft) and weighing in at 23 kg (51 lb).
Before the Quaternary extinction event there were tapirs; peccaries (Including the long nosed and flat-headed peccaries) and saiga added to the mix.
Walking in the footsteps of the Pleistocene megafauna is quite an adventure! When you are out at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, or when you are around and about the afforestation area formerly known as George Genereux Urban Regional Park, both created by the Pleistocene spillway flooding, consider also the Pleistocene mammals that wandered North America, the mastodons, giant condors and sabre toothed cats.
Ongoing analysis will no doubt have a focus on elucidating the successive train of events to better understand the geological conditions of the West Swale. Philosophers and geologists are tantalized seeking their PhD theses uncovering and hypothesizing upon the wealth of information archived in the West Swale and South Saskatchewan River valley.
The West Swale reconstruction of the most recent glacial retreat zipped through the Pleistocene geology, leaving us to wonder at the spectacular megafauna of the Pleistocene. Why are there no longer any Giant Condors, or Mastodons roaming the prairies? Why did the native North American horses and camels disappear?
Peace cannot be kept by force;
it can only be achieved by understanding.
– Albert Einstein
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 SW 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
Please help protect / enhance /commemorate 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!
The trees and vegetation, which cover the land surface of the Earth and delight the eye, are performing vital tasks incumbent upon the vegetable world in nature. Its presence is essential to earth as an organism. It is the first condition of all life; it it the ‘skin’ of the earth, for without it there can be no water, and therefore, no life.~Richard St. Barbe Baker
Most of the important things in the world
have been accomplished by people
who have kept on trying
when there seemed to be no hope at all.
– Dale Carnegie
Podiceps Auritus “Members of the family of Grebes are to be found in the temperate zones of both hemispheres, beyond which they do not extend very far either to the north or south. They are usually found on ponds or large sheets of stagnant water, sometimes on deep, slow-moving streams; but always where sedges and rushes are abundant. Probably there are no birds better entitled to the name of water fowl than the Grebes—at least, observers state that they know of no others that do not on some occasions appear on dry land. It is only under the most urgent circumstances, as, for instance, when wounded, that they approach the shore, and even then they keep so close to the brink that on the slightest alarm they can at once plunge into the water. Whatever they do must be done in the water; they cannot even rise upon the wing without a preliminary rush over the surface of the lake. From dry land they cannot begin their flight. Their whole life is spent in swimming and diving. They even repose floating upon the water, and when thus asleep float as buoyantly as if they were made of cork, the legs raised to the edges of the wings, and the head comfortably buried among the feathers between the back and shoulder. Should a storm arise, they at once turn to face the blast, and are usually able, with their paddle-like feet, to maintain themselves in the same place. They dive with great facility, and make their way more swiftly when under water than when swimming at the top. When flying the long neck is stretched out straight forwards and the feet backwards. In the absence of any tail, they steer their course by means of their feet. When alarmed they instantly dive.
Their food consists of small fishes, insects, frogs, and tadpoles. Grebes are peculiar in their manner of breeding. They live in pairs, and are very affectionate, keeping in each other’s company during their migrations, and always returning together to the same pond. The nest is a floating one, a mass of wet weeds, in which the eggs are not only kept damp, but in the water. The weeds used in building the nests are procured by diving, and put together so as to resemble a floating heap of rubbish, and fastened to some old upright reeds. The eggs are from three to six, at first greenish white in color, but soon become dirty, and are then of a yellowish red or olive-brown tint, sometimes marbled.
The male and female both sit upon the nest, and the young are hatched in three weeks. From the first moment they are able to swim, and in a few days to dive. Having once quitted the nest they seldom return to it, a comfortable resting and sleeping place being afforded them on the backs of their parents. “It is a treat to watch the little family as now one, now another of the young brood, tired with the exertion of swimming or of struggling against the rippling water, mount as to a resting place on their mother’s back; to see how gently, when they have recovered their strength, she returns them to the water; to hear the anxious, plaintive notes of the little warblers when they have ventured too far from the nest; to see their food laid before them by the old birds; or to witness the tenderness with which they are taught to dive.Col. F. M. Woodruff.”
Designated Special Concern by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada COSEWIC, “because over 90% of this bird’s breeding grounds are within Western Canadian wetlands, the continued destruction of marshes and waterways is a major threat to the survival of this species.”Nature Canada “Threats include degradation of wetland breeding habitat, droughts, increasing populations of nest predators (mostly in the Prairies), and oil spills on their wintering grounds in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. COSEWIC”
“The global population has been declined by 30% over the last three decades and by 79% within North America. Within 1985 and 2001, grassland and wetland drainage amounted to 5% global habitat loss. Due to global declines, the Horned Grebe has been unlisted from least concern to vulnerable resulting in conservation and research action plans.*”
According to the Ministry of the Environment, A breeding bird or breeding Grebe colony is protected May 15 through to July 15 of the year, foot traffic, and other low disturbances must maintain a distance of 100 meters. Medium disturbances such as vehicles and ATVs as well as high disturbances, roads, drilling both must maintain a distance of 200m from loons and any Colonial Nesting Grebes. The Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and the Afforestation Area formerly known as George Genereux Park are both located in the West Swale which drains into the South Saskatchewan River at Yorath Island/Maple Grove.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Nature Canada suggests:
“Tell elected officials that you support the protection of at least half of Canada’s Boreal forest.” “The eco-system of a forest is very fragile. It is very easily upset. This would be a fifth reason why tree cover should be maintained…It is not enough for a mayor to put on his chain and plant a tree but he must plant forest trees for our lives”~Richard St. Barbe Baker The afforestation areas of Saskatoon are a vital heritage site, and a true testament to the Parks Department of Saskatoon.
Dan Kraus,Weston conservation scientist and senior director of conservation program development for the Nature Conservancy of Canada, writes about the temperate prairies, and the endangered grasslands ~ the World’s most endangered eco-system. So it certainly would not hurt to tell your elected officials that you support the protection, as well, of the native grasslands of the West Swale, including those of the Afforestation area formerly known as George Genereux Urban Regional Park, and the native grasslands of the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area.
“When viewed in the context of our climate and geological history, it is evident that prairie wetlands are integral and irreplaceable parts of the Saskatchewan landscape.The challenge is to find a place for these wetlands in our social, economic and land-use systems – a place where their protection and conservation is assured by their inherent value.Managing Saskatchewan’s Wetlands Is there not truly a great symbiosis between woodlands, grasslands and wetlands?
“Advocate for greater protection of Important Bird Areas (IBA) in your community and across the country.”
“Learn more about IBAs.” Do you consider Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, the West Swale, and the many and several wetlands around Chappell Marsh an important bird area? Chappell Marsh is huge, extending from Chappell Marsh Conservation Area managed by Ducks Unlimited, into Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area managed by the City of Saskatoon and the Meewasin Valley.
“Stay informed about endangered birds and other species”
“Thousands of volunteers have helped conserve Important Bird Areas by surveying bird populations, building nest boxes, erecting signs, removing invasive species, planting native grasses, and promoting awareness of the value of wildlife.”
What will you do?
From the account above, can you recognize the Horned Grebe, now on your travels into the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, and around about the West Swale wetlands, the series of marshes alongside Chappell Marsh?
“From water and earth we came, and the future of mankind on this planet will be determined by respectful or disrespectful treatment of these basic elements.
Water must be a basic consideration in everything: forestry, agriculture and industry. The forest is the mother of the rivers. First we must restore the tree cover to fix the soil, prevent too quick run-off, and steady springs, streams and rivers. We must restore the natural motion of our rivers and, in so doing, we shall restore their vitalizing functions. A river flowing naturally, with its bends, broads and narrows, has the motion of the blood in our arteries, with its inward rotation, tension and relaxation.” ~Richard St. Barbe Baker
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Collins, Henry Hill Editor. Harper and Row’s Complete Field Guide to North American Wildlife. Harper and Row Publishers. New York. 1981. ISBN 0-06-181163-7 page 12. Continuing Horned Grebe and Snow Buntings sullivancountybirder, Sullivan & Delaware County Birder’s Blog
COSEWIC Assessment and Status Report on the Horned Grebe Podiceps Auritus. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. COSEWIC. 2009. COSEWIC assessment and status report on the Horned Grebe Podiceps auritus Western population and Magdalen Islands population, in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. vii + 42 pp.
(www.sararegistry.gc.ca/
status/status_e.cfm)
Horned Grebe v.s. Highways. CBC.ca The Afternoon Edition. [Saskatchewan Highways and infrastructure have run into a different kind of roadblock at the site of one of their construction projects: the Horned Grebe.]
Horned Grebe. All About Birds Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Peterson, Roger Tory. A Field Guide to Western Birds. A completely new guide to Field Marks of All Species Found in North America West of the 100th Meridian and North of Mexico. Peterson Field Guides. Third Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company Boston. 1990. ISBN 0-395-51749-4. page 26
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 SW 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
Please help protect / enhance /commemorate 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!
The trees and vegetation, which cover the land surface of the Earth and delight the eye, are performing vital tasks incumbent upon the vegetable world in nature. Its presence is essential to earth as an organism. It is the first condition of all life; it it the ‘skin’ of the earth, for without it there can be no water, and therefore, no life.~Richard St. Barbe Baker
I believe in oneness of mankind and of all living things and in the interdependence of each and all. I believe that unless we play fair to the Earth, we cannot exist physically on this planet. Unless we play fair to our neighbour, we cannot exist socially or internationally. Unless we play fair to better self, there is no individuality and no leadership. ~Richard St. Barbe Baker.
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“In the wealth of the woods since the world began The trees have offered their gifts to man.” – Henry van Dyke
The greatest gift of all is life. For millions of years the trees were paving the way for life on this planet, absorbing impurities, clearing up the foetid atmosphere and the swamp breath, absorbing carbon dioxide and giving off the life giving oxygen that
we breathe.” ~Richard St. Barbe Baker
He that planteth a tree is a servant of God;
He provideth a kindness for many generations
And faces that he hath not seen shall bless him.
There is one informal area commonly used for parking at George Genereux Urban Regional Park.
Located in the City of Saskatoon. The border between the RM of Corman Park and the City of Saskatoon forms the south west boundaries of the park.
George Genereux Park just west off of the Pike Lake Highway (Sk Hwy 7) at Range Road 3063 Please don’t drive in the forest
There is one informal area commonly used for parking at George Genereux Urban Regional Park. ON the map below are small red cars (not to scale) indicating possible parking areas. If you choose to use the steep ditch there is an area of overflow parking at the north end of the park adjacent to Township Road 364.
The GPS (Latitude and Longitude) provided is for the directions to a level parking area is the grassy area in the shadow of the overpass alongside the Saskatchewan Highway 7 Service Road (SE side of forest).
Pedestrian – bicycle egress areas are marked as “PED” on the map. This forest is located in the City of Saskatoon.
The border between the RM of Corman Park and the City of Saskatoon forms the south west. boundaries of the parks.
GPS provided for Smart Phone map directions to arrive at the “level parking area alongside the Sk Hwy 7 service road”.
While visiting the forest you can use the Prairie Forest Guide Self GPS guided tour by using pfg.friendsareas.ca on your smart phone. You will be indicated as a white and blue dot. Please use two fingers to make the satellite map very small, so you can see where you are as the dot, then centre the satellite map on your dot, and expand the map. When you arrive at an interpretive sign alongside the trails the icon will light up, and you can read the interpretive story.
NOTE. Do not drive on the gravel road south of George Genereux Park (parallel to the Canadian National Rail-line.) This is a CNR right-of-way, and has restricted access to CNR service personnel only unless you specifically ask permissions from the CNR. Sign posted; “No trespassing” NOTE No motorized vehicles. Any person who disposes or dumps waste at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area or at the “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park is liable to a fine of $25,000 according to City of Saskatoon BYLAW NO. 8310.
NE 21-36-6 W3 – George Genereux Afforestation Area -133 Range Road 3063 – GPS 52.1089473,-106.7925807
Directions. Drive on 22nd Street West in the City of Saskatoon in a westerly direction. Proceed west through the traffic light intersection at Kensington Boulevard to the Kensington neighbourhood suburban development area, and Betts Road to the Blairmore suburban development area Drive west 460 meters to the traffic light intersection of 22nd Street and Sk Highway 684 (Dalmeny highway). Turn left (south) onto Sk Highway 7. Drive south on Sk Highway 7 (the Pike Lake Highway) for 2.376 km.
As you are driving south on SK Hwy 7, proceed 1.8 km to the intersection with 11th Street, the 11th Street compost, and the Poor Boys Esso.
Driving another 366 meters south after the 11th street intersection you will pass the West Swale wetlands.
Proceed another 201 meters after the wetlands, and turn right onto the gravel road. Note this road is signed “Department of Highways only.” For this reason, there is provided another two sets of directions for arriving at this greenspace.
Follow the Saskatchewan Highway 7 service road parallel to Saskatchewan Highway 7 for 884 meters.
Take a “quick left” in 36 meters where the gravel road turns left (southwesterly)
40 meters after turning onto the gravel road there is an “Y-intersection”
The SK Hwy 7 service road proceeds in a southwesterly direction parallel to Saskatchewan Highway 7. To achieve success at the commonly used informal parking area, do not turn right and proceed parallel to the wetlands, but keep south-westerly parallel to Saskatchewan Highway 7 for 761.5 meters.
Arrive at the intersection of Range Road 3063 and Sk Hwy 7 Service Road. Proceed another 122.5 meters southwesterly along Sk Hwy 7 Service Road, and park. You have arrived. Do not drive in the forest greenspace. There happen to be dog walkers, classrooms of children, families, and cyclists enjoying the greenspace.There is also City of Saskatoon bylaw 7767, “No person shall drive a motor vehicle in any Park unless written or verbal permission to do so has been received from the City.”
NE 21-36-6 W3 – George Genereux Afforestation Area -133 Range Road 3063 – GPS 52.1089473,-106.7925807
Directions. Drive on 22nd Street West in the City of Saskatoon in a westerly direction. Proceed west through the traffic light intersection at Kensington Boulevard to the Kensington neighbourhood suburban development area, and Betts Road to the Blairmore suburban development area Drive west 460 meters to the traffic light intersection of 22nd Street and Sk Highway 684 (Dalmeny highway). After the traffic lights continue west on Saskatchewan Highway 14 – 22nd Street West for 1.6 km. Turn left onto Range road 3063. Drive south for 2.2 km.
After turning left from 22nd street, proceeding 1.6 km will take you to the intersection of Township road 364 and Range road 3063. This happens to be the intersection of the north east corner of George Genereux Park. The informal parking area is at the south east corner.
Drive another 641 meters south on Range road 3063 to the Sk Hwy 7 service road (the south east corner of the forest.
Turn right. Drive 131 meters on the Sk Hwy 7 service road. You have arrived. As above do not drive in the urban regional park greenspace.
NE 21-36-6 W3 – George Genereux Afforestation Area -133 Range Road 3063 – GPS 52.1089473,-106.7925807
Directions. Drive on 22nd Street West in the City of Saskatoon in a westerly direction. Proceed west through the traffic light intersection at Kensington Boulevard to the Kensington neighbourhood suburban development area, and Betts Road to the Blairmore suburban development area Drive west 460 meters to the traffic light intersection of 22nd Street and Sk Highway 684 (Dalmeny highway). After the traffic lights continue west on Saskatchewan Highway 14 – 22nd Street West for 3.25 km. Turn left onto Range road 3064. Drive south for 1.6 km. Turn left (west) onto Township road 364 gravel road. Drive west for 1.6 km to arrive at the intersection of Township road 364 and Range road 3063. This happens to be the intersection of the north east corner of George Genereux Park. The informal parking area is at the south east corner. Drive another 641 meters south on Range road 3063 to the Sk Hwy 7 service road (the south east corner of the forest. Turn right. Drive 131 meters on the Sk Hwy 7 service road. You have arrived. As above do not drive in the urban regional park greenspace.
GPS provided for Smart Phone map directions
NOTE. Please stop driving on the SK Hwy 7 service road parallel to SK Hwy 7 where indicated to not trespass. Do not drive on the gravel road south of George Genereux Park (parallel to the Canadian National Rail-line.) This is a CNR right-of-way, and has restricted access to CNR service personnel only unless you specifically ask permissions from the CNR. Sign posted; “No trespassing”
NE 21-36-6 W3 – George Genereux Afforestation Area -133 Range Road 3063 – GPS 52.1089473,-106.7925807
Directions. Drive on 22nd Street West in the City of Saskatoon in a westerly direction. Proceed west through the traffic light intersection at Kensington Boulevard to the Kensington neighbourhood suburban development area, and Betts Road to the Blairmore suburban development area Drive west 460 meters to the traffic light intersection of 22nd Street and Sk Highway 684 (Dalmeny highway). Turn left (south) onto Sk Highway 7. Drive south on Sk Highway 7 (the Pike Lake Highway) for 2.376 km.
As you are driving south on SK Hwy 7, proceed 1.8 km to the intersection with 11th Street, the 11th Street compost, and the Poor Boys Esso.
Driving another 366 meters south after the 11th street intersection you will pass the West Swale wetlands.
Proceed another 201 meters after the wetlands, and turn right onto the gravel road. Note this road is signed “Department of Highways only.” For this reason, there is provided another two sets of directions for arriving at this greenspace.
Follow the Saskatchewan Highway 7 service road parallel to Saskatchewan Highway 7 for 884 meters.
Take a “quick left” in 36 meters where the gravel road turns left (southwesterly)
40 meters after turning onto the gravel road there is an “Y-intersection”
The SK Hwy 7 service road proceeds in a southwesterly direction parallel to Saskatchewan Highway 7. To achieve success at the commonly used informal parking area, do not turn right and proceed parallel to the wetlands, but keep south-westerly parallel to Saskatchewan Highway 7 for 761.5 meters.
Arrive at the intersection of Range Road 3063 and Sk Hwy 7 Service Road. Proceed another 122.5 meters southwesterly along Sk Hwy 7 Service Road, and park. You have arrived. Do not drive in the forest greenspace. There happen to be dog walkers, classrooms of children, families, and cyclists enjoying the greenspace.There is also City of Saskatoon bylaw 7767, “No person shall drive a motor vehicle in any Park unless written or verbal permission to do so has been received from the City.”
NE 21-36-6 W3 – George Genereux Afforestation Area -133 Range Road 3063 – GPS 52.1089473,-106.7925807
Directions. Drive on 22nd Street West in the City of Saskatoon in a westerly direction. Proceed west through the traffic light intersection at Kensington Boulevard to the Kensington neighbourhood suburban development area, and Betts Road to the Blairmore suburban development area Drive west 460 meters to the traffic light intersection of 22nd Street and Sk Highway 684 (Dalmeny highway). After the traffic lights continue west on Saskatchewan Highway 14 – 22nd Street West for 1.6 km. Turn left onto Range road 3063. Drive south for 2.2 km.
After turning left from 22nd street, proceeding 1.6 km will take you to the intersection of Township road 364 and Range road 3063. This happens to be the intersection of the north east corner of George Genereux Park. The informal parking area is at the south east corner.
Drive another 641 meters south on Range road 3063 to the Sk Hwy 7 service road (the south east corner of the forest.
Turn right. Drive 131 meters on the Sk Hwy 7 service road. You have arrived. As above do not drive in the urban regional park greenspace.
NE 21-36-6 W3 – George Genereux Afforestation Area -133 Range Road 3063 – GPS 52.1089473,-106.7925807
Directions. Drive on 22nd Street West in the City of Saskatoon in a westerly direction. Proceed west through the traffic light intersection at Kensington Boulevard to the Kensington neighbourhood suburban development area, and Betts Road to the Blairmore suburban development area Drive west 460 meters to the traffic light intersection of 22nd Street and Sk Highway 684 (Dalmeny highway). After the traffic lights continue west on Saskatchewan Highway 14 – 22nd Street West for 3.25 km. Turn left onto Range road 3064. Drive south for 1.6 km. Turn left (west) onto Township road 364 gravel road. Drive west for 1.6 km to arrive at the intersection of Township road 364 and Range road 3063. This happens to be the intersection of the north east corner of George Genereux Park. The informal parking area is at the south east corner. Drive another 641 meters south on Range road 3063 to the Sk Hwy 7 service road (the south east corner of the forest. Turn right. Drive 131 meters on the Sk Hwy 7 service road. You have arrived. As above do not drive in the urban regional park greenspace.
Afforestation Area Formerly known as George Genereux Park. Map adapted from a 1996 RM of Corman Park 344 Map
The urban forest ~ “The Afforestation Area formerly known as George Genereux Park” ~ in Saskatoon is located west of Saskatchewan Highway 7. When driving over the CN overpass look down to the west and see the mature growth forest of this urban regional park. This property was bought by the City of Saskatoon in 1960 and afforested in 1972. 1972, A. L. Ligtemoet, Assistant Parks Superintendent sets before city council that these first 660 acres of afforestation areas be kept in perpetuity and this is approved. It received its name “George Genereux Park” in 1978-1979. The name George Genereux Park was taken for a pocket park in another area of Saskatoon, leaving this urban regional park without a name. The Afforestation Area formerly named George Genereux Park is located diagonally across Saskatchewan Highway 7 from the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. The Afforestation Area formerly named George Genereux Park was annexed into the City of Saskatoon boundaries fully in 2015. See the above map for the location of Saskatoon’s Urban Regional Park – “The Afforestation Area formerly named George Genereux Park”.
The coordinates for Google maps to arrive at “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park are 52.1132738,-106.7901621,786 for Range Road 3063. Civic address for this park is 133 Range Road 3063. There is no formal parking lot, and motorized vehicles need park on the range roads or on the grid township roads. Best access is travel west out 22nd Street West (Sk Hwy 14) past the Blairmore suburban development centre (Shopping malls) and Kensington neighbourhood. Turn left on Range Road 3063. Proceed south until you arrive at the “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park on Township Road 364. Receive permissions from the city to drive within the park. Travel by motorized vehicle into the “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park is subject to fines according to City of Saskatoon Bylaw No. 7767; The Recreation Facilities and Parks Usage Bylaw.
Any person who disposes or dumps waste at “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park is liable to a fine of $25,000 according to City of Saskatoon BYLAW NO. 8310
“The aim of the Men of the Trees is briefly ‘ to develop a tree sense in every citizen, and to encourage all to plant, protect and love their native trees; for forestry is among the oldest and most honourable of the peaceful arts of men, and in its practice is unselfish and constructive service.’ “ In the words of Henry van Dyke, America’s greatest tree poet, He that planteth a tree is a servant of God; He provideth a kindness for many generations And faces that he hath not seen shall bless him.” Richard St. Barbe Baker
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
““Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven..”
Richard St. Barbe Baker
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
“St. Barbe’s unique capacity to pass on his enthusiasm to others. . . Many foresters all over the world found their vocations as a result of hearing ‘The Man of the Trees’ speak. I certainly did, but his impact has been much wider than that. Through his global lecture tours, St. Barbe has made millions of people aware of the importance of trees and forests to our planet.” Allan Grainger
“The science of forestry arose from the recognition of a universal need. It embodies the spirit of service to mankind in attempting to provide a means of supplying forever a necessity of life and, in addition, ministering to man’s aesthetic tastes and recreational interests. Besides, the spiritual side of human nature needs the refreshing inspiration which comes from trees and woodlands. If a nation saves its trees, the trees will save the nation. And nations as well as tribes may be brought together in this great movement, based on the ideal of beautifying the world by the cultivation of one of God’s loveliest creatures – the tree.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker.
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park. 