Diversity increases carbon sequestration

“With increased species richness, more carbon is stored both above and below ground—in trunks, roots, deadwood, mould, and soil, you can roughly say that a diverse forest stores twice the amount of carbon as the average monoculture.”

Prof. Bernhard Schmid: University of Zurich plant biologist and Diverse Forests Store Twice the Carbon, Improve Biodiversity, Compared to Monoculture Plantations study co-author

The 2020 target of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 15: Life on Land is to “Promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally.”

The United Nations mandates urgent action and a global paradigm shift to “take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species.”

The City of Saskatoon is growing and developing a long range plan for the Blairmore Sector and is at the table for the P4G long range planning. To guide the action for the City of Saskatoon, they have set out a course of action to follow. Under the Strategic Goal of Environmental Leadership, Saskatoon has defined an objective to attain within ten years -which is to “improve access to ecological systems and spaces, both natural and naturalized.” – Strategic Goal 2013-2023

Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are in fact plans to protect man.”

—Stewart Udall

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park
For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area


For more information:


Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area,  George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits


NEW P4G District Official Community Plan
DRAFT P4G Saskatoon North Partnership for Growth The P4G consists of the Cities of Saskatoon, Warman, and Martensville, the Town of Osler and the Rural Municipality of Corman Park; planning for areas around the afforestation area and West Swale outside of Saskatoon city limits


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
Pinterest richardstbarbeb
Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park
Facebook: StBarbeBaker
Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Facebook: South West OLRA
Twitter: StBarbeBaker 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 to the same email. Please and thank you!  Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated.  Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date! Canada Helps
1./ Learn.
2./ Experience
3./ Do Something: ***
“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

Are you a biophiliac?

“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.” 

 

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

Wilson, Edward O. (1984). Biophilia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-07442-4.

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park

For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

For more information:

Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area,  George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits

P4G Saskatoon North Partnership for Growth The P4G consists of the Cities of Saskatoon, Warman, and Martensville, the Town of Osler and the Rural Municipality of Corman Park; planning for areas around the afforestation area and West Swale outside of Saskatoon city limits

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

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook: StBarbeBaker

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Facebook: South West OLRA

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

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!

QR Code FOR PAYPAL DONATIONS to the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc.
Paypal

Payment Options
Membership : $20.00 CAD – yearly
Membership with donation : $50.00 CAD
Membership with donation : $100.00 CAD

1./ Learn.

2./ Experience

3./ Do Something: ***

 

Richard St. Barbe Baker, “You can gauge a country’s wealth, its real wealth, by its tree cover.”

 

Nature depaves. Why don’t we?

“Depaving while rebuilding”~Richard Register

That’s crazy, have you ever heard of such a concept?  Would that be like greenscape or greyscape?

 

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.”

 

” ~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

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park

For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

For more information:

Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area,  George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits

P4G Saskatoon North Partnership for Growth The P4G consists of the Cities of Saskatoon, Warman, and Martensville, the Town of Osler and the Rural Municipality of Corman Park; planning for areas around the afforestation area and West Swale outside of Saskatoon city limits

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

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook: StBarbeBaker

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Facebook: South West OLRA

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

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!

QR Code FOR PAYPAL DONATIONS to the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc.
Paypal

Payment Options
Membership : $20.00 CAD – yearly
Membership with donation : $50.00 CAD
Membership with donation : $100.00 CAD

1./ Learn.

2./ Experience

3./ Do Something: ***

 

“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.

 

Directions to George Genereux Park

3 Directions to George Genereux Park

with maps

  1. 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.”

  2. 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.

  3. 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.
directions to George GenereuxUrbanRegionalPark
Directions to George Genereux Urban Regional Park, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Please come out to the George Genereux Urban Regional Park and take some pictures!!!! Then upload them to social media with the tags #yxeGreenStrategy #SaskatoonAfforestation and #WintercityYXE  GPS 52.108923, -106.790284  Please park outside the forest beside on the verge of the gravel road, and don’t drive your vehicle in the forest, there are families with children, and dog walkers.

George Genereux Checklist for iNaturalist, and trail map pamphlet

Please comment on the photos which appear on social media if you think they are picturesque, and fantastic places to visit!

George Genereux Park just west off of the Pike Lake Highway (Sk Hwy 7) at Range Road 3063. Park on the grassy verge beside gravel road parallel to SK Hwy 7. If you leave the City of Saskatoon on the Pike Lake Highway towards Pike Lake, pass 11th Street, pass the 11th Street compost, pass the West Swale wetlands. If you go up and over the CNR overpass, and see trees down below to the west, that is the park. You have gone too far, and you need to turn around. Please don’t drive in the forest.

And to make it easier here are links to the facebook pages for George Genereux Urban Regional park social media facebook pages *** new ***  Please share this new page!!

Facebook group page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

What is it that you love about Saskatoon’s natural areas this winter??? Show it in a photo – a picture tells a thousand words!

How can the City of Saskatoon’s new department “Utilities and Environment” which includes Natural Area Standards, Urban Forest Management Plan and Green Strategy make good decisions for the City of Saskatoon residents and for tourism to our great city?

For more map information check out the following maps which include the areas which are outside city limits (P4G  planning) and inside city limits (Saskatoon planners)

P4G map page 26 of Saskatoon North Partnership for Growth Regional Plan

City of Saskatoon Long Range Planning Map showing Blairmore Sector

For more information:

Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area,  George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits

P4G Saskatoon North Partnership for Growth The P4G consists of the Cities of Saskatoon, Warman, and Martensville, the Town of Osler and the Rural Municipality of Corman Park; planning for areas around the afforestation area and West Swale outside of Saskatoon city limits

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

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook: StBarbeBaker

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Facebook: South West OLRA

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

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!

QR Code FOR PAYPAL DONATIONS to the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc.
Paypal
Payment Options
Membership : $20.00 CAD – yearly
Membership with donation : $50.00 CAD
Membership with donation : $100.00 CAD

1./ Learn.

2./ Experience

3./ Do Something: ***

The Province of Saskatchewan Motto:

Multis e gentibus vires (From Many Peoples Strength)

Has any one of us ever really seen a Tree? When we become aware of trees we may each glimpse of them to moments of spiritual vision and, identifying ourselves with the trees, become conscious of the rising of the sap; the upward thrust of life, leaf burgeoning, their consciousness of the changing seasons; we may share their passionately boisterous exuberance of life in the height of the storm, and their tranquility when at rest; with them we will enjoy the glad murmur of the ripening seed clusters when after weeks of drought the steady warm rain brings relief to thirst; and we will know that these creatures, our elder brethern, are intimately related to us in their love and hunger for life. We may even catch their enthusiasm and aspire heavenwards while still rooted in our Mother Earth and in communion with our fellow man and, tree-wise, strive to make the Earth more fruitful again.~Richard St. Barbe Baker

Heir of the ancient woods

International Day of Forests
21 March 2018

“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

“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

“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.

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park

For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

For more information:

Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area,  George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits

P4G Saskatoon North Partnership for Growth The P4G consists of the Cities of Saskatoon, Warman, and Martensville, the Town of Osler and the Rural Municipality of Corman Park; planning for areas around the afforestation area and West Swale outside of Saskatoon city limits

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

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook: StBarbeBaker

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Facebook: South West OLRA

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

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.

1./ Learn.

2./ Experience

3./ Do Something: ***

 

 

“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

“I had a place.”

International Day of Happiness
20 March 2018

 “All places that the eye of Heaven visits
Are to the wise man ports and happy havens.” ~Shakespeare

“If a man is unhappy, this must be his own fault; for
God made all men to be happy.”—Epictetus

“She was one of those exceptional children who do still spend time outside, in solitude. In her case nature represented beauty – and refuge. “It’s so peaceful out there and the air smells so good. I mean, it’s polluted, but not as much as the city air. For me, it’s completely different there,” she said. “It’s like you’re free when you go out there. It’s your own time. Sometimes I go there when I’m mad – and then, just with the peacefulness, I’m better. I can come back home happy, and my mom doesn’t even know why.”
The she described her special part of the woods.
“I had a place. There was a big waterfall and a creek on one side of it. I’d dug a big hole there, and sometimes I’d take a tent back there, or a blanket, and just lie down in the hole, and look up at the trees and sky. Sometimes I’d fall asleep back there. I just felt free; it was like my place, and I could do what I wanted, with nobody to stop me. I used to go down there almost every day.”
The young poet’s face flushed. Her voice thickened.
“And then they just cut the woods down. It was like they cut down part of me.” Richard Louv

“Life is a great gift, and as we reach years of discretion, we most of us naturally ask ourselves what should be the main object of our existence… we should all endeavor to contribute as far as we may to the happiness of our fellow-creatures.  I cannot, however, but think that the world would be better and brighter if our teachers would dwell on the Duty of Happiness as well as on the Happiness of Duty, for we ought to be as cheerful as we can, if only because to be happy ourselves, is a most effectual contribution to the happiness of others. ~Sir John Lubbock”

Happy Girl
The light that comes from above and within….

“The light that comes from above and within….

I believe that this generation will either be the last to exist in any semblance of a civilized world or it will be the first to have a vision, a daring and a greatness to say:

“I will have nothing to do with this destruction of life. I will play no part in this devastation of this land. I am destined to live and work for peaceful construction for I am morally responsible for the world of today and of the generations of tomorrow.

Let TAWAMHWE-pull together-be our motto and I pray that we may give our active support to all efforts of desert reclamation by tree planting and I pray that I may be just to the Earth below my feet, to my neighbour by my side and to the light which comes from above and within, and this wonderful world of ours may be a little more beautiful and happy for my having lived in it.” ~Richard St. Barbe Baker

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park

For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

For more information:

Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area,  George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits

P4G Saskatoon North Partnership for Growth The P4G consists of the Cities of Saskatoon, Warman, and Martensville, the Town of Osler and the Rural Municipality of Corman Park; planning for areas around the afforestation area and West Swale outside of Saskatoon city limits

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

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook: StBarbeBaker

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Facebook: South West OLRA

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

Should you wish to help 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 should 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.

1./ Learn.

2./ Experience

3./ Do Something: ***

 

 

“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

 

February 1, 2018

The day has arrived!

February 1 2018
February 1 2018

It is definitely on the horizon!  Around and about February 1, 2018 is the date which the City of Saskatoon long range planners are looking at for a public consultation meeting in regards to The Blairmore Sector Management Area Land Use Plan.  There are amendments and changes being made to the Blairmore Sector which affect the afforestation areas.

SaveTheDate

The City of Saskatoon does not wish to miss any interested stakeholders who may wish to voice their opinions on the afforestation areas and the Blairmore Sector changes. Therefore, the long range planners are seeking to contact those persons and organisations who may have an interest in the South West Sector afforestation areas – NOTE now moved over to the Blairmore Sector Neighbourhood long range planning process. The  West Swale Afforestation Areas include the South West Off Leash Recreation Area SWOLRA ~ a part of the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area  located north of Chappell Marsh Conservation Area, and south of the CN rail yards, the ‘George Genereux’ Urban Regional Park west of the Pike Lake Highway, and the unnamed afforestation area located east of the SW dog park, and west of the Civic Operations Centre (bus barns) [this unnamed forest is generally also referred to as the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area as well].

“Man must resuscitate his planet with trees, his heart with faith.”
~Richard St. Barbe Baker

Look forward to seeing you’se at the meeting

“Similar souls wander in the similar places! They may not know each other, but often they touch the same winds, they step on the same leaves, their looks are lost in the same horizons!”― Mehmet Murat ildan Turkish quotes

2018Meeting
Blairmore Sector Public Engagement Meeting

 

Additional information

Map of Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Map of ‘George Genereux’ Urban Regional Park

About the Afforestation Areas ~ a history

Blairmore Sector Plans City of Saskatoon

City of Saskatoon mission, vision, and strategy | City planning process.

Blairmore Sector Map

City of Saskatoon projected Growth including Blairmore Sector

Saskatoon City Neighbourhood Boundaries Map

For more information:
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063
Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot
Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com
Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map
Facebook: StBarbeBaker
Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Facebook: South West OLRA

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!

QR Code FOR PAYPAL DONATIONS to the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc.
Paypal

Payment Options
Membership : $20.00 CAD – yearly
Membership with donation : $50.00 CAD
Membership with donation : $100.00 CAD

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

“The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.”― Christopher McCandless

 

1884 Sectional Map

“I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay, small acts of kindness and love.”~ Gandalf

Department of the Interior Topographical surveys branch. Sectional Maps. Dominion Land Office April 25, 1884. Township 36 Range 6 West of the Third Meridian
Plan of Township No 36 Range 6 West of the Third Meridian. Dominion Land Office April 25, 1884.

Map Surveyed by the undersigned Frank L. Blake D.L.S. August 1883
Approved and confirmed E Deville for the Surveyor General

A map expresses a perspective {that of the cartographer}. But the map itself has not a perspective. As George Graham says, “the perspective is not in the map. It must be read into the map. The mind’s Intentionality or aboutness in underived. It inheres in it or is intrinsic to it.” He looked deeply forlorn needing to settle this  decision once and for all.

The wetlands which formed in the Pleistocene Yorath Island Spillway are very evident on the above map, and are part of what is now called 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 [To get an overview of the West Swale check out the next Map 1915 Saskatoon Sheet which includes Grandora, etc…

“Humankind’s greatest sin is anthropocentrism – where human life is valued above all other sentient life. Msirtnecoporhtna – backwards or forwards it makes no sense. If Moses could spell it, he would have put in his top 10.” Philip Wollen founder of Winsome Kindness Trust

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

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park

For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

For more information:

Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area,  George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits

P4G Saskatoon North Partnership for Growth The P4G consists of the Cities of Saskatoon, Warman, and Martensville, the Town of Osler and the Rural Municipality of Corman Park; planning for areas around the afforestation area and West Swale outside of Saskatoon city limits

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

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook: StBarbeBaker

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Facebook: South West OLRA

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

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!

QR Code FOR PAYPAL DONATIONS to the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc.
Paypal

Payment Options
Membership : $20.00 CAD – yearly
Membership with donation : $50.00 CAD
Membership with donation : $100.00 CAD

1./ Learn.

2./ Experience

3./ Do Something: ***

 

“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

“Act. Don’t react. See a need, fix it first. Worry about the details later. If you wait until you are asked you have just missed a golden opportunity. They are fleeting and rare.” Philip Wollen founder of Winsome Kindness Trust

Municipal Reserve

Notice of Meeting –

RE: Inquiry Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

 

 

There are two kinds of light – the glow that illumines, and the glare that obscures.  ~James Thurber

Standing Policy Committee on Planning, Development and Community Services meeting:

Re: Inquiry – Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (File No. CK. 4000-1)

Monday, August 14, 2017

TIME: 9:00 a.m.

PLACE: City of Saskatoon Council Chamber

Main Floor, City Hall

There is a muscular energy in sunlight corresponding to the spiritual energy of wind.  ~Annie Dillard

If you wish to speak to the Committee or provide comments regarding this matter, you are required to submit a letter to the City Clerks Office. Letters must be received online at Write letter to committees by 8:00 a.m. on the day of the meeting, or delivered in writing to the City Clerk’s Office no later than 5:00 p.m. of the business day preceding the meeting. You are asked to limit your comments to five minutes. Please include your mailing address in your submission.

In the first flush of youth our imaginative faculties are very active. In childhood we rove through Fairyland and play with the little elves; in youth the tiny elves have grown up to be nymphs of our own size and age, and from the summer moonlight we step into the rosy dawn, all fragrant and lightsome, with a glamour over everything which is delicious to our senses. By-and-by, as youth falls from us, we step out from the glades and meadows into the dry and dusty highway of life.” ~ Hume Nisbet

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park

For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

For more information:

Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area,  George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits

P4G Saskatoon North Partnership for Growth The P4G consists of the Cities of Saskatoon, Warman, and Martensville, the Town of Osler and the Rural Municipality of Corman Park; planning for areas around the afforestation area and West Swale outside of Saskatoon city limits

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

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook: StBarbeBaker

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Facebook: South West OLRA

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

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!

QR Code FOR PAYPAL DONATIONS to the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc.
Paypal

Payment Options
Membership : $20.00 CAD – yearly
Membership with donation : $50.00 CAD
Membership with donation : $100.00 CAD

1./ Learn.

2./ Experience

3./ Do Something: ***

 

“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

“Act. Don’t react. See a need, fix it first. Worry about the details later. If you wait until you are asked you have just missed a golden opportunity. They are fleeting and rare.” Philip Wollen founder of Winsome Kindness Trust

 

“Man must resuscitate his planet with trees, his heart with faith.”~Richard St. Barbe Baker

 

 

How? Recreation in harmony with wildlife.

Is it possible and How?

 

“Every trail can’t be all things to all people but all trails can play beneficial roles. Trails play roles in the economy, play roles in the environment and perhaps most importantly, play roles in our health.*” Trails have the capacity to provide connectivity, economic benefits, education potential, environmental interpretation, health, heritage, and recreation. Trails can also focus on just interpretive trails. Trails may be made solely for recreation without awareness of the environment. Those people focusing on the lack of Vitamin “N” in the urban population, may construct trails for education and health, and not focus on a wide variety of recreation. Then there are those trails which with planning and foresight have the capacity to combine many features for an audience of skiiers, classrooms of snowshoers, groups of fat bicycle riders, and nature enthusiasts who come to the forest to band birds. Trails invite people and increase the human footprint. Is it at all possible for trails to provide health benefits of recreation and to conserve the footprint of birds and wildlife at the same time?

Trails can be constructed to encircle biospheres, and trails can loop around and create length for an exercise workout. Ecosystems in the afforestation area vary widely. Prairie gives way to permanent class IV wetlands, in turn cycles to Aspen Parkland bluffs, which at the next turn reveals implanted and afforested trees. Native grasslands mix with modified grasslands. Native trees combine with afforested mature tree plantings. Shallow temporary floodplains flow with intermittent streams between marsh areas.

Abandoned roadways in the afforestation area formerly allowed motorized vehicle travel east and west. Newly created trails create greenways through the forest biome itself.

“‘Planning Trails with Wildlife in Mind’ helps trail planners and builders balance the benefits of creating trails with being stewards of nature and wildlife habitat.” How does one make a bicycle path appropriate for a semi-wilderness wildlife habitat? What are some guidelines for being aware of wildlife, aquatic areas, and environmental impacts and consequences? Can trails be designed in the winter months without an awareness of the spring, summer and fall biosphere? How can trails enrich greenways, and the wildlife, while still providing a recreational experience? Are there impacts of trails on the nesting site of deer families, and fawns? What is the view from the bird’s nest with an increase of trail users in a forest?

Is it possible that a greenway concept or trail design, that the flora and fauna of wetlands and woodlands can thrive alongside people in nature? What types of design considerations and awareness of the biodiversity are required? Trail and corridor planning has the capacity to provide ecologically sustainable trails for a city urban footprint. Trails can protect environmental resources, if the natural eco-system is e

 

valuated, and considered.

However, that being said, trails can focus only on recreational aspects, and those benefits. Trails can be indeed fantastic ways to enjoy winter recreation. Once built, the same trails over the spring, summer and fall months, have opened up the wildlife habitat to people. There is no doubt about it, the winter recreation trails don’t disappear along with the snow melt.

Do these trails bring people into the environment with minimal environmental impact? What happens on a winter trail in the summer?  Do the trails provide the tourist with the capacity for educational, scenic or interpretive opportunity year round? Can all vegetation be linked with a greenway corridor, or are there species which do not thrive around a trail? Similarly what species of animals will make homes, reproduce, and live in the same habitat as trails? Can this be accomplished, or does it become an either or? Is it a choice to choose between trails and a variety of fauna, or can they exist together? Do trails include the biosphere of flora and fauna species and therefore enhance the environment?

How do challenging bicycling and hiking trails compare to a shorter interpretive or nature trail? Is the area only large enough for recreational trails, and the park should only be open in the winter, and close up for the other seasons? Can recreational winter trails, afford environmentally friendly trails during other seasons?

Trails dig deep into a woodland, when a trail transects through a forest what are the impacts on the woodland animals, and birds? Do botanists work alongside trail planners to know which areas are sensitive and which would thrive with trails?

Trails are amazing things, a well-designed trail has minimal devastation to the vegetation, are easy to hike, bicycle, ski and snowshoe.  However it may possibly be that protecting the vegetation, is not the sole responsibility when trail planning when providing a minimum impact onto an eco-system. Again, trails are truly amazing things, providing people with an opportunity to bicycle in nature, hike, showshoe, ski, or band birds. Alongside the vegetation, good trail planning will consider the seasons and the urban footprint all year round. If a winter ski trail is created in one area of a biome, will this impact where a deer gives birth to a fawn in the spring? When a winter trail loops through a forest, will that have a ripple effect on species of birds nesting over the summer?

Eco-tourism is wonderful. A healthy and active outdoor lifestyle is absolutely marvelous. Having the capacity to celebrate a semi-wilderness habitat in the city is remarkable. What is the way to make these concepts mutally inclusive? How can winter trail networks live in harmony with semi-wilderness wildlife habitats? This question begs the need to know what wildlife habitats exist, which species live where. Where do the nature enthusiasts band their birds? Where do the deers nest their fawns? If these questions are answered, the biosphere, is truly enhanced with trails, and the next generation of skiiers, snowshoers, hikers, and bicyclers will also be handed a glimpse of a deer, and the grandchildren of the bird-banders, will also be able to band birds alongside the same trails.  Wouldn’t that be fantastic if many generations of recreational enthusiasts, could have a grand time celebrating winter, and that their great grandchildren may also see a deer in a city forest?  Is it possible and how can it be accomplished? The question now is how?

BIBLIOGRAPHY
* Benefits of Trails Hike Ontario.

Trails, Bike and Hike: Inpsiring a Healthy Environment Upper Thams River Conservation Authority. Parks Recreation and Natural Areas.

National Trails Training Partnership Wildlife and environment impacts and benefits of Trails and Greenways.

Benefits of Trails | Rails to Trails

Enhancing the Environment with Trails and Greenways. Rails to Trails Conservancy.

Trails in Saskatchewan Provincial Parks

 

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park

For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

For more information:

Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area,  George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits

P4G Saskatoon North Partnership for Growth The P4G consists of the Cities of Saskatoon, Warman, and Martensville, the Town of Osler and the Rural Municipality of Corman Park; planning for areas around the afforestation area and West Swale outside of Saskatoon city limits

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

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook: StBarbeBaker

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Facebook: South West OLRA

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

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!

QR Code FOR PAYPAL DONATIONS to the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc.
Paypal

Payment Options
Membership : $20.00 CAD – yearly
Membership with donation : $50.00 CAD
Membership with donation : $100.00 CAD

1./ Learn.

2./ Experience

3./ Do Something: ***

 

“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

Stand firm. Grip hard.
Thrust upward to the skies.
Bend to the winds of heaven.
And learn tranquility.
~Richard St. Barbe Baker

“We feel that our greatest victory remains to be won when man will realize his oneness with the trees, the creatures and with all living things, not ours to destroy, but to be handed on for the enjoyment of future generations.” – 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

Stand firm. Grip hard.
Thrust upward to the skies.
Bend to the winds of heaven.
And learn tranquility.
~Richard St. Barbe Baker

“We feel that our greatest victory remains to be won when man will realize his oneness with the trees, the creatures and with all living things, not ours to destroy, but to be handed on for the enjoyment of future generations.” – Richard St. Barbe Baker

 

%d bloggers like this: