“The eminent biologist E.O. Wilson first called our affinity for the natural world “biophilia,” and the term has stuck.” F. Kaid Benfield.
KE. O. Wilson defines biophilia as “the urge to affiliate with other forms of life.”
A bit of fog and hoar frost in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Forest
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Downy Wwoodpecker Ddryobates pubescens
When you think about Jardin du Luxembourg (Luxembourg Garden) in Paris, France, it is amazing to find a 60 acre park in the city. Benfield stated that he “Still feels ‘in the city’ when there [in the park], but in an especially tranquil part. ”
George Genereux Afforestation Area and Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area are appealing for that same reason. One is surrounded by an array of landscapes, ecosystems and experiences, and it is amazing that the city long range planners have included these two afforestation areas in the Blairmore Sector Plan as Saskatoon grows to 1/2 million.
By integrating the two afforestation areas into the new growth as Saskatoon and surrounding areas expand around George Genereux Afforestation Area and Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is magical. “Green infrastructure … [has] the effect of softening urban density, making it more appealing as well as better functioning.” ~ Benfield.
Bibliography
Benfield, F. Kaid. People Habitat. 25 ways to think about greener, healthier cities. ISBN 978-0-9897511-0-0. People Habitat Communications. Washington, D.C. USA
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!
Rime Ice at George Genereux Urban Regional Park, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. NE 21-36-6 W 3 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 NE 21-36-6
Sunrise at George Genereux Urban Regional Park, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. NE 21-36-6 W 3 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 NE 21-36-6
George Genereux Urban Regional Park, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. NE 21-36-6 W3 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 NE 21-36-6
History of “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park
133 Range Road 3063, Saskatoon, SK ( NE 21-36-6 W3)
Greenbelts were the brainchild of Ebenezer Howard, Rexford Tugwell and Benton McKaye. These greenbelts were pioneered to control urban growth.
Saskatoon had its own green belt envisioned by Bert Wellman, Saskatoon Planning Department, who literally got out of his office, and walked around Saskatoon’s perimeter in 1960 choosing high spots of land for scenic beauty according to Bill Delainey Saskatoon Historian and local history room librarian.Together with City Planner, Bill Graham, Wellman worked on parkways and planted trees for the Circle Drive Parkway at these sites purchased in 1960. The afforestation areas -Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional Park as well as several green spaces are a part of this concept, and have been incorporated into the Circle Drive plan as is evident around Gordie Howe Bridge completing the southern portion of Circle Drive in Saskatoon.
The City of Saskatoon Parks and Recreation Board planted 200,000 trees on 600 acres of land as a tree nursery program in 1972 as part of the Green Survival Program sponsored in North America by the Canadian Nursery Trades Association and the American Association of Nurserymen. In total 355 acres of afforestation areas were planted that year. In 1973, 355 additional acres are planted. Originally 2,300 acres were envisioned. Though, originally established as a tree nursery, George Genereux Urban Regional Park has trees too large to transplant at the current moment of time.
Future residential areas were examined, and the areas for public reserve allocated. The intent was to plant these future areas of open space so that when the subdivision was developed, the Blairmore Suburban Development Area (SDA), there would be mature trees already established.
In 1972, A. L. Ligtemoet, Assistant Parks Superintendent sets before council that these
afforestation areas be kept in perpetuity ~ this is approved by city council.
George Genereux Urban Regional Park, Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, and the third afforestation area south of Diefenbaker Park received plantings of drought resistant trees; black or balsam poplar also known as the balm of Gilead (Populus balsamifera), American Elm (Ulmus americana), Colorado blue spruce ( Picea pungens), Sibernain Elm (Ulmus pumila), Scotch Pine or Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris), Willow, Manitoba Maple (Acer negundo), Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), and the Siberian peashrub or caragana (Caragana arborescens) Tree planting selections recommended by the P.F.R.A. Tree nursery at Indian Head, SK
The rows were planted by weaving in and out, deviating from the centre line by as much as forty feet, producing a natural forest effect. “We’re stabilizing the sand with a series of spiral shelters – rows of trees planted in semicircles to catch the winds and create vortices of air,” explains Richard St. Barbe Baker. “The same thing would be valuable on the Canadian prairies where straight shelter belts cause snow to accumulate.” Star Weekly Toronto, On January 15 1972
In 1979, the parcel of land at NE 21-36-6 was named “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park – 133 Range Road 3063 and is now part of the Blairmore Suburban Development Area
The George Genereux Afforestation Area, besides providing flood mitigation control, and being an amazing carbon sink for the rising greenhouse gases, features an amazing geological history. The West Swale, is an amazing geological remnant of the Pleistocene Yorath Island Spillway. The West Swale is a low-lying depression created by repeated glaciations and the melting of the last bit of glacial ice. When the glacial lake dam failed, a huge outburst flood (GLOF) occured The dam can consist of glacier ice or a terminal moraine. Failure can happen due to erosion, a buildup of water pressure, an avalanche of rock or heavy snow, an earthquake or cryoseism, volcanic eruptions under the ice, or if a large enough portion of a glacier breaks off and massively displaces the waters in a glacial lake at its base. Peak flows as high as 15,000 cubic metres per second. The northern flow of water in the Glacial North Saskatchewan River Valley was halted by ice, creating Glacial Rice Lake settling into the lowlands west of Grandora. Glacial Rice Lake drained by channels into the South Saskatchewan Valley According to Larry Edwin Hodgins, “The Moon Lake Channel, a major spillway connecting the North Saskatchewan River basin with the South Saskatchewan, and a smaller parallel channel, Yorath Island Channel, also cross the Cory plain….but they are clearly not South Saskatchewan channels.” and the area of the South Saskatchewan may have increased by 140% and 194%
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).
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.
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.” “If you can’t help yourself, you should use your God-given talents to help others,’ spoke George Genereux
Plans Around George Genereux Urban Regional Park Area
At the current moment, plans are made for the area surrounding George Genereux Urban Regional Park. Check out the maps on these three proposals. The Saskatoon Provincial Freeway is being designed in the area west of Saskatchewan Highway 7. The city of Saskatoon long range planners are designing the Blairmore Sector within city limits to the north of George Genereux Urban Regional Park. The P4G planners are allocating land use outside city limits in the immediate vicinity of George Genereux Urban Regional Park.
Click here to see maps of the freeway route at the bottom of this story. On mobile? Click here.
Saskatoon Freeway Presentation When fully developed, the Saskatoon Freeway will provide a high speed, free flow bypass route around Saskatoon for provincial traffic, as well as allowing for another commuter route for the growing city. The key benefits of the freeway include improved safety, improved traffic flow and reduced travel times.
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 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 believed that God has lent us the Earth. It belongs as much to those who come after us as to us, and it ill behooves us by anything we do or neglect, to deprive them of benefits which are in our power to bequeath.” Richard St. Barbe Baker
That’s crazy, have you ever heard of such a concept? Would that be like greenscape or greyscape?
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.
American Red Squirrel Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Bohemian Waxwing Bombycilla Garrulus Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada
So technically, Richard Register, goes on to say, “The inescapable conclusion about access and transportation is that we have built an immensely destructive transportation infrastructure and need to create access in a different way. ”
A different way? Hmmm? Have you ever heard of such a thing before?
“That this implies is tearing up the asphalt and rolling back sprawl; organizing the community, buying the seedlings, breaking out the sledge hammers, warming up the muscles, and firing up the bulldozers – on our side this time.”~ Richard Register
We are close to 8 billion persons on the world right now, and by 2055 the earth will feature 10 billion persons and 11 billion in the year 2088. Saskatoon, well this city is at 246,376, and is the largest city in the province of Saskatchewan and features a Census Metropolitan Area of 295,095. Well, by 2032, this number for the city should change to 450,000 around 2032 and one million by 2063. “The Blairmore Suburban Development Area (SDA) currently has land sufficient for eight future neighbourhoods and approximately 50,000 to 70,000 people within its boundaries”~Blairmore Sector Plan Report Richard St. Barbe Baker AFforestation Area, and the George Genereux Urban Regional Park are both included in the Blairmore Sector Report according to city long range planners.
“Nature depaves.” ~Richard Register
Isn’t that a unique sentence. Short, just like that, “nature depaves.”
“
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.
American Red Squirrel Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Bohemian Waxwing Bombycilla Garrulus Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada
” ~Richard Register
That is an interesting question.
“We need not only to stop new paving, but to being depaving what should never have been paved in the first place.”~Richard Register.
Isn’t that a unique statement. Register goes on to relate that “A major roadway was recently removed from the side of the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, and replaced with a riverside walk and park….In the suburbs of St. Paul, Minnesota, in an area called Phalen Village, a failed shopping center and its enormous parking lot have been bulldozed to restore a lake filled forty years aso…Says Torstenson [ St. Paul City staff planner ], ‘It always wanted to be a lake, even after it was paved. Water collected in the parking lot during rains and stayed for days, and by the end a few cattails were pushing through the asphalt even before the bulldozers came back. One day last fall I saw ducks floating in the rain puddle in the middle of the parking lot near those reeds. The lake was insisting on coming back.’ One old timer in Phalen village told him, ‘I was there fishing when the first dump truck arrived. Never should have filled that lake in the first place.'”
“Depaving while rebuilding”~Richard Register
Bibliography:
Register, Richard. Ecocities. Rebuilding Cities in Balance with Nature. ISBN-10:0-86571-552-1. ISBN-13: 978-0-96571-552-3. New Society Publishers. 2006
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 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.
“The Environmental Protection Agency now warns us that indoor air pollution is the nation’s number one environmental threat to health- and it’s from two to ten times worse than outdoor air pollution. A child indoors is more susceptible to spore of toxic molds growing under that plush carpet; or bacteria or allergens carried by household vermin; or carbon monoxide, radon and lead dust. The allergen level of newer, sealed buildings can be as much as two hundred times greater than that of older structures.” Richard Louv
Is this not the best reason to go outside, and to treasure the great outdoors.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.—Margaret Mead
White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
Cardiovascular benefits, and heart health forest walking
“The earth has music for those who listen.” –William Shakespeare
“Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.” –John Muir
Pelican Preenning
Muskrat West Swale Wetlands. Chappell Marsh. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA
“Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life!” – 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 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!
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.
“Wilderness is not a luxury but necessity of the human spirit.” –Edward Abbey
“This generation may either be the last to exist in any semblance of a civilised world or that it will be the first to have the vision, the bearing and the greatness to say, ‘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
“We have such a brief opportunity to pass on to our children our love for this Earth, and to tell our stories. These are the moments when the world is made whole. In my children’s memories, the adventures we’ve had together in nature will always exist.” Richard Louv
William T. Hornaday speaks of a time when 500 bird boxes, 500 sweet cherry trees and 200 mulberry trees were given away alongside raw materials for 2,000 children to gain a love for birds, with a desire to protect them. “Children will care for and defend things that are their very own, fight for them and stand guard over them … no more faithful sentinel ever stood on guard than the boy who had a bird-house all his own….Nowhere else has such a scheme been attempted, and never before has there been just such a day of jubilee. The intense interest manifested by the children, and the earnest enthusiasm manifested, leaves no doubt about their carrying out their part of the contract.”
“Duty Of Parents. —This being the case, it is very necessary that the young people of to-day should be taught, early and often, the virtue and the necessity of wild-life protection.” William T. Hornaday
“What do parents owe their young that is more important than a warm and trusting connection to the Earth…?” – Theodore Roszak
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!
“Teaching children about the natural world should be treated as one of the most important events in their lives.” – Thomas Berry
“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder…he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.” Rachel Carson
The sustainable use of the components of biological diversity
The fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources”
The City of Saskatoon is working towards “Preservation of wetlands in Saskatoon helps to improve the quality and reduce the quantity of stormwater run -off that flows to the river, provides some storage for greenhouse gases (GHGs), maintains wildlife habitat and corridors, and improves public access to ecological systems and spaces” Additionally, the city adopts a wetland policy which “requires establishment of wetland development and management guidelines to sensitively integrate wetlands into urban development and to adopt specific design guideline s for constructed stormwater wetlands, both of which would help to mitigate the risk and severity of flooding.”
“We are committed with our lives to building a different model and a different future for humanity, the Earth, and other species. We have envisaged a moral alternative to economic globalization and we will not rest until we see it realized.”~Maude Barlow
What is a wetland? “Lands having water at, near, or above the land surface or land that is saturated with water long enough to promote wetland or aquatic processes as indicated by poorly drained soils, aquatic vegetation and various kindsof biological activity which are adapted to a wet environment.”
Golder Associates in their City of Saskatoon West/Southwest Sector Natural Area Screening Study, classifies those lands of the Blairmore sector afforestation areas as wetlands.
The afforestation areas provide a riparian woodlands habitat for deer, squirrel, skunk and porcupine, the modified grasslands with native species pockets are home for vanishing provincial songbird species, the permanent class IV wetlands are of course a natural choice for egrets, herons, pelicans, ducks and geese. The species at risk; the Northern Leopard Frog makes its home in the wetlands areas alongside the Barred Tiger Salamander [western tiger salamander].
Southern Cloudywing Thorybes bathyllus courtesy of John Flannery CC 2.0
“When I hear of the destruction of a species, I feel just as if all the works of some great writer have perished.”
~ Theodore Roosevelt
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!
“Teaching children about the natural world should be treated as one of the most important events in their lives.” – Thomas Berry
“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder…he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.” Rachel Carson
O the fluttering and the pattering of the green things growing,
How they talk each to each, when none of us are knowing;
In the wonderful light of the weird moonlight
Or the dim, dreamy dawn when the cocks are crowing.
I love, I love them so—my green things growing,
And I think that they love me, without false showing,
For by many a tender touch they comfort me so much
With the soft mute comfort of green things growing.
—Dinah Mulock Craike.
Children in Nature
“Time in nature is not leisure time; it’s an essential investment in our chidlren’s health (and also, by the way, in our own).” Richard Louv
The whole nature of a child cries out for self activity. Producing by his own efforts something that satisfies his own needs gives him the keenest possible pleasure, and puts into him that energy which results in love of work.
Go beyond daisy chains from dandelions this summer explore a realm of toys in nature.
Daisy Chain
“We have such a brief opportunity to pass on to our children our love for this Earth, and to tell our stories. These are the moments when the world is made whole. In my children’s memories, the adventures we’ve had together in nature will always exist.” Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder
I have a vision of the earth made green again through the efforys of children planting trees. Children of all ages, of all colour and races, holding hands encircling the earth, working together to bring harmony and peace to all people, to all nations and to our relationship with the natural world.” 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!
“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.
“Come! tented leaves of my tree;
High summer is here, the moment of passionate life,
The hushed, the maternal hour.
Deep in the shaded green your mystery shielding,
Heir of the ancient woods and parent of forests to be,
Lo! to your keeping is given the Father’s life-giving thought;
The thing that is dream and deed and carries the gift of the past.
For this, for this, great tree,
The glory of maiden leaves, the solemn stretch of the bough,
The wise persistent roots Into the stuff of the world their filaments forcing,
Breaking the earth to their need. “Evelyn Underhill
White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
“I believe, therefore, that water must be a basic consideration in all our national and earth wide forest programmes. Streams and rivers must be restored to their natural motion and thus floods and droughts must be eliminated. Forests and woodlands are intimately linked with biological, social and spiritual well-being. I believe that the minimum tree cover for safety is l/3rd of the total land area of every country. Every catchment area should have at least this proportion of tree cover made of mixed species including the broad leaved trees” Richard St. Barbe Baker
Western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta)
“But what are the Americans going to do for oxygen? Where are the other people of the world who are dependent on this last best Oxygen Bank of the world going to get their oxygen?
…Oxygen, is the first call on the forests. Because we can live less than five minutes without air. The second call on the forests
is water. We can live less than five days without water. And the third call on the forests is food. We can live less than five
weeks without food. And so these I regard as the first three of the forests. ~Richard St. Barbe Baker”
How will you celebrate the International Day of Forests? Check the United Nations Forum on Forests to find out more about Forest Heroes, and the International Day of Forests, films, award winning photographs and posters.
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
In regards to your financial donations to protect / enhance the afforestation areas, please contact the City of Saskatoon, Corporate Revenue Division, 222 3rd Ave N, Saskatoon, SK S7K 0J5 To support the afforestation area with your donation please state that your donation will support the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, or the George Genereux Urban Regional Park, or both afforestation areas. Please and thank you! Your donation is greatly appreciated.
“The simple act of planting a tree, which is in itself a practical deed, is also the symbol of a far reaching ideal, which is creative in the realm of the Spirit, and in turn reacts upon society, encouraging all to work for the future well being of humanity rather than for immediate gain. ” Richard St. Barbe Baker
“We forget that we owe our existence to the presence of Trees. As far as forest cover goes, we have never been in such a vulnerable position as we are today. The only answer is to plant more Trees – to Plant Trees for Our Lives.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker
“A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing.” Oscar Wilde
Department of the Interior Topographical Surveys Branch. Sectional Maps. Portion of Saskatoon Sheet Sectional Map #215.
” I’m not going to give you a map. I can give you only a great passion to discover. Yes, a map is not needed; great passion, great desire to discover is needed. Then I leave you alone. Then you go on your own.” Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
Though the above quotes are brilliant, in this case a map is supplied. Discover not only the Blairmore sector afforestation areas, but also walk in the footsteps of geologists to discover the “West Swale.”
The West Swale extends from Yorath Island in the South Saskatchewan River through to Grandora, Rice Lake and the North Saskatchewan River [this map encompasses a larger swath than the previous 1884 Sectional Map to show more placenames]. The Pleistocene Yorath Island Spillway created what is now known as the “West Swale”
Blairmore Sector Afforestation Areas
Legend Additions in the colour Mauve:
How would the Blairmore Sector Afforestation Areas have featured on a map of 1883?
On the west side of Saskatoon a portion of the 660 acres preserved in perpetuity in 1972 are located at:
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (City of Saskatoon Urban Regional Park) Parts Section 22 and SW 23 township 36 range 6 west of the third meridian. (East of the CN overpass on SK Highway 7) SE 22 & SW 23-36-6 W3
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of South West Off Leash Recreation Area) civic address 467 Township Road 362-A. Only lands of SE 22 36 6 W3 under MVA conservation management
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) civic address 355 Township Road 362-A under MVA conservation
Un-named City of Saskatoon Afforestation Area. Part south of CN Chappell yards SE section 23-36-6-W3 preserved as afforestation area in perpetuity, under MVA conservation management- west of SW OLRA and east of COC.
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area civic address 241 Township Road 362-A
In 1960, part of NE 21-36-6 W3 (West of the CN overpass on SK Highway 7) was purchased by the City, planted in 1972, preserved as an afforestation area. Named in 1978-1979 George Genereux Park (Urban Regional Park), this namesake was removed at this afforestation area for use at a different city pocket park.
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area civic address 133 Range Road 3063
“Each person walks a journey unique to himself or herself. Live your own journey and run your own race.” Winsome Campbell-Green
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!
“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
“We forget that we owe our existence to the presence of Trees. As far as forest cover goes, we have never been in such a vulnerable position as we are today. The only answer is to plant more Trees – to Plant Trees for Our Lives.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker
“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 Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park. 