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.
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 theRichard 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 theunnamed 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
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!
“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
American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) Courtesy D. Gordon E. Robertson
Afforestation Area east of SW OLRA Northern Boundary Road Showing Jersey Barriers and Gate installation
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area in the fog
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, south west sector, in the City of Saskatoon, SK, CA at the Volunteer Community Clean UP 2016 CISV Youth Group Volunteers
In life there is a continuous succession of first impressions and adventures.
Why do we smile when a child puts on a man’s hat? The usual reply to such questions is, that laughter results from a perception of incongruity.
It is truly incongruous indeed that the afforestation area is besought with illegal trespass, however this is no laughing matter. No chuckle comes forward, only dismay, bewilderment, and nay even disgust that a forest should receive the dumping of trash, and environmental polluting.
However, to the rescue comes the RM of Corman Park 344 establishing posts, locks and chains to mitigate illegal trespass to the southern perimeter. Adjoining the RM are the Fat bike fatlanders brigade with their own volunteer labour securing the east side of the afforestation area near the Civic Operations Centre (City of Saskatoon bus barns) with a bollards, gate and “gently used” Jersey Barriers. The City of Saskatoon joins the ranks with their attention to the stakeholder’s interests, the additional “gently used” Jersey Barriers, the existing no dumping/no trespassing signs and the orange vehicle barriers.
This is not the least, the Saskatoon City Police, Warman RCMP force and the Corman Park Police Service have all offered support services to the citizen stakeholders. The Saskatoon Fire Department efficiently contained the grass fire of 2016, a great relief before it became a forest fire. Everyone is doing the best that they possibly can.
Additionally Saskatoon groups, individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds and interests have rallied to support the “strategic goal of quality of life” and the “strategic goal of environmental leadership” at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area in so many ways. It is with great appreciation the volunteers offering their time at the community and Meewasin & Affinity Credit Union Clean-Up Campaign clean ups , the citizen neighbourhood watch stewards, the donations in kind in support of the clean up, and thefinancialdonations which have been received towards the Meewasin Valley Authority Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Trust Fund
So, “What are you doing this Earth day, April 22?”, is asked again. Hopefully it is getting out in nature, enjoying the fresh air, celebrating our amazing world, and reveling in the joy that so many residents in the city of Saskatoon embrace the Richard St. Barbe Baker afforestation area. It is an area large enough to embrace the ideals summarized as a “strategic goal of quality of life” and the “strategic goal of environmental leadership.”
Come out this spring, and celebrate the work done by diverse groups and residents in this afforestation area preserved in perpetuity! Look forward to seeing you, indeed. It is great to see so many different expressions to respect this semi-wilderness habitat corridor nestled in the West Swale wetlands. For it is joy seeing the coming forward of the City of Saskatoon citizens in regards to the afforestation area. The Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is held in the hearts of so many, and it may truly and well be preserved for many generations to come. Don’t you agree that in this there is, indeed, laughter and celebration for Earth Day!
“How much lies in laughter: the cipher key, wherewith we decipher the whole man!” wrote Carlyle.
Thank you!
PRAYER FOR THE TREES
We thank Thee God! for thy Trees,
Thou comest very near to us through thy Trees.
From them we have beauty, wisdom, love,
The air we breathe, the water we drink,
the food we eat and the strength.
Help us, Oh God!
to give our best to life
and leave the world
a little more beautiful and worthy
of having lived in it.
Prosper thou our planting
and establish thy kingdom of love
and understanding on the Earth.
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SW 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map
Please help protect / enhance /commemorate your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)
Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!
The trees and vegetation, which cover the land surface of the Earth and delight the eye, are performing vital tasks incumbent upon the vegetable world in nature. Its presence is essential to earth as an organism. It is the first condition of all life; it it the ‘skin’ of the earth, for without it there can be no water, and therefore, no life.~Richard St. Barbe Baker
It is not a farce.…”To be whole. To be complete. Wildness reminds us what it means to be human, what we are connected to rather than what we are separate from.” ~Terry Tempest Williams
Let us heal the naked scars in the earth and erstore her green mantle. Let us set our Earth family in order.~Richard St. Barbe Baker
Colorado Blue Spruce Cone. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, SK, CA
Canada Goose There are Geese at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Chappell Marsh and West Swale Wetlands, Saskatoon, Sk, CA
Ruddy Duck in the West Swale Wetlands (Chappel Marsh) One of the only locales in Saskatchewan to sight the Ruddy Duck. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, SK, CA
Are you available for a quick clean up on Saturday Oct. 29, 2016 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon? The area to be done is the smaller forest between the South West off leash recreation area and the Civic Operations Center (bus barns) on Cedar Villa Road ~ (so the forest east of the dog park)
The fantastic thing is that there are some Vehicle Restriction Barriers erected now to mitigate access by those who may dump trash into the urban forest!
But just as a farmer who fences off a property to keep coyotes or skunks out, when the fence is finished up, it is defeating the purpose if the fence contains the coyote or skunk within it. So at the afforestation area, a little clean up is needed for what was missed on July 9, and if you are around to help, it would be enormously appreciated!
And then a wonderful example can be set of a spectacular urban forest to enjoy with vehicle barriers up for a safe and scenic walk, bicycle ride, jog or stroll in the woods.
Thank you so kindly for any help on Saturday October 29, 2016 you are able to lend to the effort
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.
“We stand in awe and wonder at the beauty of a single tree. Tall and graceful it stands, yet robust and sinewy with spreading arms decked with foliage that changes through the seasons, hour by hour, moment by moment as shadows pass or sunshine dapples the leaves. How much more deeply are we moved as we begin to appreciate the combined operations of the assembly of trees we call a forest.”~Richard St. Barbe Baker
A bit of history is needed, to go back in time a little ways, to the time when the bus barns civic operations centre site was decided upon, and construction south west of the City of Saskatoon was in its infancy.
A bit of history is needed, to go back in time a little ways, to the time when the bus barns civic operations centre site was decided upon, and construction south west of the City of Saskatoon was in its infancy. The City of Saskatoon Civic Operations Centre construction began north of Valley Road, and west of the City landfill
People who knew about the wooded area north of Cedar Vlla Road and to the west of the construction site wandered around in the forest sad and abject. They would meet on the paths in the forest speaking often to the others about the natural beauty of the area, attesting to their appreciations that there was a forest of such magnificence glory and splendour so close to the growing city of Saskatoon. The sadness stemmed from uncertainty as to when the time would come and the bull dozers would arrive to raze the forest to the ground taking away this amazing beauty and wonderland. They felt because the land was abandoned and there were no signs posted, that the wooded area did not belong to anybody, and it was just a matter of time before it would be gone. They came to treasure the last moments to be had within the spectacular embrace of the White Spruce, the American Elms, the Colorado Blue Spruce so stately and fine. They admired the saplings, the Carragana hedge row, the Black Capped Chicakadees flittering about branch to branch. Those who knew of the wooded area were dismal and resigned that this land which no one owned would soon be underneath a concrete pad, and no one would be enchanted again by the all empowering expansive appeal of eye-catching hoar frost painting spectacular designs in the landscape on spruce boughs.
What could be done? How could anyone have the ability to respond to such a situation? Facts slowly began to emerge. It turned out that on research of the particular land location, that no, it was not land which belonged to nobody. And on reflection, how could land so close to a City not belong to anybody at all. The land was owned by the City of Saskatoon. So with this new piece of information; was this good or bad. This could still mean that the wooded area may remain a forest, or it may be part of the Civic Operations Centre land use.
Further research revealed that the Civic Operations Centre did in fact stop short of the wooded area. Construction would not proceed where the trees were planted. But why? Would the trees and forest be safe with another expansion of the city? Still folks who met in the forest, those who walked in the wooded area did not believe the tale. They said pooh! We don’t believe you, if it was owned by the City, there would be signs. People said; “this land is not owned by anybody.” The general consensus was, “I can do anything I want to out here,” however was this right?
People drove their snowmobiles here, as urban dwelling land owners have a very hard time finding area to drive their snowmobiles. Folks who owned All Terrain Vehicles and 4x4s would drive their vehicles in the bush, as again, city dwelling residents have a hard time mudding and tearing around on city streets, and this land was “not owned by anybody”, so why not here? So without traffic lights, rules or regulations, people walked and drove around the bush trying not to crash into one another.
But those who came to enjoy the voiceless and alluring voice of the forest were relieved. The forest and the Civic Operations Centre were to be neighbours. The trees would not need to lay down their lives for any construction. The storm had passed, those who met in the woods were incredulous and everyone sighed a breath of relief. But confusion still reigned. This was not like any City of Saskatoon land they had ever seen before. It was a forest and absolutely amazing, and delightful, but there were no signs installed and trash was abundant everywhere, the City and its citizens had abandoned it, but why? Why would the city not have signs at a forest as alive, as expansive and as fantastic as the “wooded area” is? Why was there trash around every corner when there was such potential for a spectacular park without work or effort? This site was already mature, and landscaped, and spell-binding!
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
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.
“We stand in awe and wonder at the beauty of a single tree. Tall and graceful it stands, yet robust and sinewy with spreading arms decked with foliage that changes through the seasons, hour by hour, moment by moment as shadows pass or sunshine dapples the leaves. How much more deeply are we moved as we begin to appreciate the combined operations of the assembly of trees we call a forest.”~Richard St. Barbe Baker
“St. Barbe’s unique capacity to pass on his enthusiasm to others. . . Many foresters all over the world found their vocations as a result of hearing ‘The Man of the Trees’ speak. I certainly did, but his impact has been much wider than that. Through his global lecture tours, St. Barbe has made millions of people aware of the importance of trees and forests to our planet.” Allan Grainger
“The science of forestry arose from the recognition of a universal need. It embodies the spirit of service to mankind in attempting to provide a means of supplying forever a necessity of life and, in addition, ministering to man’s aesthetic tastes and recreational interests. Besides, the spiritual side of human nature needs the refreshing inspiration which comes from trees and woodlands. If a nation saves its trees, the trees will save the nation. And nations as well as tribes may be brought together in this great movement, based on the ideal of beautifying the world by the cultivation of one of God’s loveliest creatures – the tree.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker.
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park. 