“The spirit of the man known as Richard St. Barbe Baker is the common force that has drawn us all together.” says Melissa J. Hadley, “It is not his knowledge of forestry, but rather a sharing in this vision of the greening of the earth that we celebrate here today. We admire St. Barbe the forester, for his foresight in the perception of a new forestry ethic.”1.
“He was very kind-hearted and often befriended rather hopeless types of people, with some sort of weakness that prevent their being able to earn their living. He would give them work to do in the office of the Man of the Trees, in order to build up their self-confidence. I never heard him speak ill of anyone; on the contrary the world seemed to be peopled with his personal friends.”2.
“Just imagine for a moment what it would be like if you really knew that everything you do counts – which, ironically, on a cosmic level, is probably true. If you knew that to be a fact, in a very concrete, immediate way, would you live your life differently? Just today, for example, how might you have related your children and loved ones if you knew that everything you say and do does affect them deeply and indelibly?”3.
Well, that has indeed happened in the case of Richard St. Barbe Baker. Time after time, the people who have met or encountered Richard St. Barbe Baker were affected emotionally, and profoundly. To this very day, they remember the moment when Richard St. Barbe Baker came into their lives.
So, it is always good to stop, take stock, and wonder, “What would Richard St. Barbe Baker say?”
And here is how to sum it all up in Richard St. Barbe Baker’s words on connections to the earth. “The fate of an individual or a nation will always be determined by the degree of his or its harmony with the forces and laws of nature and the universe. Man is not alone in the universe but is surrounded by sources of power, harmony and knowledge…Our individual evolution is a job that has to be carried out day by day by each individual himself. It is a life-long task.”
There are Friends of the Trees, who knew and encountered Richard St. Barbe Baker, around the world folks have come together on the same stage, they are ecologists and conservationists, authors and climate change consultants. What do they have to say about Richard St. Barbe Baker, and the encounter he had on their lives? Many people have heard of David Suzuki, David Attenborough, or Greta Thunberg. Richard St. Barbe Baker was the first global conservationist and humanitarian, and “he had the unmistakable quality of believing that his contributions counted”3. This is our way to remember his international legacy. International Online Premiere: The Legacy of Saskatoon’s Secret Forest Saturday November 6, 2021 at 1:00 pm CST (UTC-6)
Photo of Richard St. Barbe Baker
Courtesy: University of Saskatchewan,
University Archives & Special Collections,
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Forest
Photo of Richard St. Barbe Baker
Courtesy: University of Saskatchewan,
University Archives & Special Collections,
Richard St. Barbe Baker fonds, MG 71
Hoar Frost and Rime Ice covering the trees at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon , SK , in the bright morning sunlight
Elm trees in the Snow showers on Saturday at Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Founding Conference Proceedings. 1984. The Richard St. Barbe Baker Foundation. Hugh Locke Executive Director. Page 17 [reference 1321]
Some personal recollections of Richard St. Barbe Baker. page 2. University of Saskatchewan,University Archives & Special Collections,Richard St. Barbe Baker fonds, MG 71 [reference 9789]
B.T. Inside. November 1982 New Age Volume 8 Number 4 [reference 9803]
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
Curriculum resources found online which help learning in the afforestation areas which are mixed woodlands resembling a boreal forest ecosystem on the prairies.
Who would know Richard St. Barbe Baker better than someone who actually met him?
Richard St. Barbe Baker OBE, Hon. LL.D. F.I.A.L., For.Dip.Cantab., ACF (9 October 1889 – 9 June 1982)
Richard St. Barbe Baker OBE, Hon. LL.D. F.I.A.L., For.Dip.Cantab., ACF (9 October 1889 – 9 June 1982)
The long needles of the Scots Pine
Paul Hanley personally knew Richard St Barbe Baker, OBE, Hon. LL.D. F.I.A.L., For.Dip.Cantab., ACF (9 October 1889 – 9 June 1982)
Paul Hanley, environment awareness promoter, activist, free lance writer, speaker, and author introduces Richard St. Barbe Baker. Paul’s biography Man of the Trees: Richard St. Barbe Baker, the First Global Conservationist, features a foreword by HRH Prince Charles and an introduction by Jane Goodall.
10702 Diefenbaker Dr, North Battleford, SK S9A 4A8
“You might call Richard St. Barbe Baker an expatriate Canadian with roots in New Zealand, and the whole earth as his baliwick An ecology worrier years before his time, Baker left his Saskatchewan homestead early in the century to study forestry at Cambridge University. Since then he has spent a lifetime in the woods of the world.” Star Weekly, Toronto, Ontario, January 15, 1972
Richard St. Barbe Baker received an honourary Doctor of Laws degree from his old alma mater, the University of Saskatchewan, and who should bestow it upon St. Barbe, but the Rt. Hon. John Diefenbaker, a fellow student of Richard St. Barbe Baker.
“The average citizen has yet to learn the importance of Forestry…the man in the street does not know that the presence of Forests, in reasonably proportionate areas, is vital to human health and in order to stay the process of the disintegration of the surface of the land….Happily the solution of the Problem is at hand.” ~University of Saskatchewan,University Archives & Special Collections,Richard St. Barbe Baker fonds, MG 71
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!
Chaque fois que je fais les courses, je vote résolument “Oui aux aliments en vrac!” et “Oui aux produits biologiques!” Pour mes enfants, je rêve d’un avenir plus sain et sans déchet: je suis heureuse d’y investir mon argent chaque semaine.”
― Bea Johnson
“Has any one of us ever really seen a Tree? When we become aware of trees we may catch glimpses of them in 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 a 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 men and, tree-wise, strive to make the Earth more fruitful again.” ~Richard St. Barbe Baker
“Never before in the history of man has forestry, both in the developed and developing worlds, attracted so much public attention. Environmental degradation and the decline of forests in industrial countries, the continued destruction of forests in developing countries, and evidence of global climate change have all combined to raise the awareness of politicians, planners, and the media to the vital importance of forests in the well-being of nations, and to the knowledge that in our time, the remnants of natural forest ecosystems, with their great diversity of habitats, are in danger of destruction. “~Laurence Roche[7]
Professor Roche born in Wexford, Ireland, had eight siblings. His cousin was the novelist John Banville, and besides devouring works by Baker and novels by Thomas Merton theologian and mystic, Roche was widely read. Considering the same trajectory as Richard St. Barbe Baker, Roche contemplated entering a school of Divinity to become a priest, however Baker’s works inspired Roche to leap feet first, and pursue forestry at Trinity College, Dublin receiving his B.A., B. Agr. [Forestry] in 1960. Roche followed up with a traveling scholarship completing his Masters in Science [1962] and Doctorate from the University of British Columbia [1966].
Business, Technology, 21st Century Culture, Planet Earth
Planet Earth, the World, is in our Hands
Roche received postings in both Canada for the Canadian Forest Service and Professor of Forestry and Head, Department of Forestry, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria Roche embraced a global view following in the footsteps of Richard St. Barbe Baker. Roche advocated that forests were not isolated economic resources for immediate gain. Tropical forests needed to be viewed and assessed in an ecological and social context, and educated African forestry corps to take a lead in safeguarding their forests.
Working alongside John Bene in 1975, they recommended and established programmes on agrisilviculture in developing countries leading to more efficient land use, programmes to improve the lot of rural forest dwellers, by addressing hunger, shelter and degradation of the environment. John Bene, an indefatiguable Canadian forester and inspiring visionary, initiated priorities on tropical forestry research and lead the way to establish the International Centre for Research on Agroforestry (ICRAF) [now known as the Nairobi-based World Agroforestry Centre] in 1977.
“The relationship of populations to their ecosystems is the forest geneticist’s central area of inquiry, and, if he is to gain a fairly complete understanding of these relationships, he must regard the intricate patterns of evolution and coevolution. Therefore, forest genetics engages in ecosystems biology, or, more narrowly, in population biology. ..The environmental conditions that permit a population to survive permanently, and with which this population interacts, today are usually designated as its “ecological niche.” ~Laurence Roche [10]
Roche recognized that “almost all tree species studied to date exhibit habitat-correlated, genetically based variation. When the species is distributed over a wide range of environments, variation within a species is often very great. It is this variation, referred to as the genetic resources of the species, which is the basis of evolutionary development, and the starting point for selection and breeding programmes. Such programmes are virtually non-existant for tropical trees. ~ Laurence Roche.[3]”
Following his work with IDRC advisor Bene, to integrate forestry, and agriculture with animal husbandry to optimize tropical forest land use, Roche accepted a position as Professor Department of Forestry and Wood Science, School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography, University College of North Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd.
Roche was the founding father of the “Journal of Forest Ecology and Management,” a peer reviewed periodical focusing on the forest ecology interaction with forest management, alongside innovation and research in the fields of biological, ecological and social issues in regards to the management and conservation of natural forests and their biosphere. Forest Ecology and Management is committed to open access bringing forward new ideas and approaches to forest management, and forest ecology.
The spirit and zeal of Professor Roche continued following his retirement. Though settling down in Madaboy, Murroe, Co. Limerick, Ireland, Roche continued to advocate for the tropical forest, making frequent journeys. Roche also provided counsel to the Food and Agricultural Organisation headquartered in Rome. According to Trevor West, Roche was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole [The Order of Agricultural Merit] in 1991, and was elected an honorary fellow of Trinity College Dublin [TCD] in 1993.
“I had news that an ecological survey was being undertaken in the Sahara, to the North of the Gold Coast, and I learnt that the local tribesmen had been forced by increased desertification to retreat to a small patch of land, the last remaining patch of forest in the area. There was desert behind them for a thousand miles, and desert to either side of them for a thousand miles, the chiefs had forbidden marriage and the women refused to bear children because the end of the forest was in sight….I was determined that the Kenyans should never have to suffer such an appalling social and ecological disaster.” Richard St. Barbe Baker.
9. Roche, Laurence The Silvicultural Significance of Geographic Variation in the White Engelmann Spruce Complex in British Columbia
The Forestry Chronicle, 1970, 46(2): 116-125, https://doi.org/10.5558/tfc46116-2
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.’ ”
It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one destiny, affects all indirectly. —Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta)
“The environment is where we all meet; where all have a mutual interest; it is the one thing all of us share.” —Lady Bird Johnson
Cast adrift of the hustle and bustle of the city lights. Relax and meander in the wilderness of the forest.
The only way forward, if we are going to improve the quality of the environment, is to get everybody involved. Richard Rogers
It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one destiny, affects all indirectly. —Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Both Deepak Chopra and Richard St. Barbe Baker agree, in this. Immerse yourself in the forest, set yourself adrift, even if just for twenty minutes each day, refresh yourself, sing with the Meadowlards. “With spirit we are all children of the cosmos; Without it we are orphaned and adrift.” Deepak Chopra “Man must resuscitate his planet with trees, his heart with faith.”~Richard St. Barbe Baker
“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.
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!
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.
Trembling Aspen grove Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, CA
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and West Swale Wetlands , Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Lincoln’s Sparrow Melospiza lincolnii
Black Capped Chickadee West Swale Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA
“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
The Saskatoon Nature Society Past-President, Marten Stoffel, who is familiar with the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation area, along with Sara Byrson who has a background in forestry will lead a field trip to the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area on the evening of June 14, as follows. For several years Marten Stoffel has been banding birds at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area.
Wednesday June 14, 2017 7:00 pm – 9:00 pmRichard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area.
“We will walk through this afforestation area next to
Chappell Marsh to search for native plants and songbirds.
Meet by the Grain Elevator at the Western Development
Museum parking lot on Lorne Avenue. Bus: Route 1
Exhibition departs downtown terminal at 6:31 p.m. and
arrives on Lorne Avenue adjacent to museum about 6:50 p.m.
Leaders Sara Bryson (306 261 6156) and Marten Stoffel
(306 230 9291)
Guide to Nature Viewing Sites Page 122.”
Everyone is welcome to participate in any Saskatoon Nature Society field trip. Bring your friends. Carpooling for out-of- town trips is arranged at the meeting place; there is no charge other than to share gasoline costs. Phone the trip leader if you have any questions (as above). Participants are free to depart early if they wish. Saskatoon Nature Society Members with FRS radios should bring them on out of town trips. Family Radio Service (FRS) is an improved walkie-talkie radio system. Check the website at Saskatoon Nature Society for last minute changes or cancellations and to download checklists. Bus Information: 306-975-3100.
It is with grateful appreciation that the Stewards of the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area acknowledge this wonderful program acknowledging the semi-wilderness wildlife habitat of the West Swale, and associated woodlands. Though this two hour walk through will not be as extensive as a two day bio-blitz, it will be intriguing to discover what nativeplants are discovered at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and which song bird species come to roost for the evening.
As Saskatchewan Tourism says; “With over 350 species to be observed, birdwatching in Saskatchewan is a year-round activity. However, the fall and spring migration seasons present fantastic opportunities for viewing as species both rare and plentiful cross the Land of Living Skies.”
The Prairie Birder, Charlotte Wasylik, has listed the arrival dates for spring migratory birds in Alberta, to check how these dates correspond to Saskatchewan Species, compare to E-Bird historic sightings. The prairie provinces are vast land areas, and she mentions, that “with a variety of habitats and species arrival dates will vary based on your location in the province”, the typical dates of spring migration are March through May.
What are some of Saskatchewan’s prairie songbirds? Sibley and Alquist divided songbirds into two “parvorders”, Corvida and Passerida which include shrikes, vireos, crows, magpies, jays, waxwings, chickadees, larks, swallows, martins, warblers, wrens, nuthatches, thrushes, true sparrows, finches, pipits, buntings, American sparrows, longspurs, buntings for example. Will it be possible from the above family listing to perhaps sight any of the species of these families on the Saskatoon Nature Society Check List which may offer a spotting of the following example species; Sprague’s pipit, Chestnut-collared longspur, Western Meadowlark, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Brown Thrasher, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, McCown’s Longspur, Bobolink, and Purple Martin.
“Grassland songbirds evolved with specific needs that restrict where and how they can obtain food and build nests. Most of them can only nest in certain types of grass and will not tolerate trees in the landscape….The Baird’s Sparrow is one of the least flexible grassland songbirds…they’re really fussy about how tall and sparse the vegetation is. They have to have finely stemmed grasses to nest in. So the heavy, thick stems and leaf blades of invasive and non-natives like smooth brome are a problem for them.Hanson
The former natural area screening study conducted surveys in native grassland, modified grasslands and wetlands plant communities throughout the west/southwest sector of Saskatoon. Locating native grassland communities in and around trembling aspen bluffs. Mixed grasslands, however will show examples of smooth brome, alfalfa, and sweet clover. “Grasslands have undergone habitat conversion including cultivation, grazing, suburbanization, and industrialization. Murphy A listing of native plant species is included at the end of this article or click here [pdf].
The south west sector afforestation areas were started as tree nurseries in 1972, and when the trees matured, this use as a tree nursery is not longer viable. So the grasslands have had years to recover, and begin the conversion back to their natural state. However, “in addition to the threat of development, native grasslands are being degraded due to weed invasionWilliams. So it will be intriguing to see the level of native plants left intact at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area.
Looking back now, to the afforestation methods employed in 1972, “The following tree species were used: American and Siberian Elm, Manitoba Maple, Green Ash, Poplar, Willow, Colorado Spruce, Scotch Pine, and Caragana. Rows weaving in and out as much as forty feet from the centre line was used. This produces a natural forest effect. The proposed planting area consisted of four and one-half adjacent quarter sections. We divided this two and one-half mile long area into five planting areas, with strips of fifty to sixty feet left bare, as fire guards between each planting area.”Ligtermoet So these means that there are areas which have been native prarie biome for 57 years since the land was purchased by the City of Saskatoon in 1960 without development of any form at all, so it may, indeed be promising to find belts of native grassland, and associated songbirds during this Saskatoon Nature Society nature field trip.
Whereas the West Swale has numerous small scattered wetland areas, the focus of this nature study walk, will be not the aquatic vegetation, nor waterfowl, but the belts of native plants, and any associated songbirds.
Louie Schwartzberg states that “Nature’s beauty is a gift that cultivates appreciation and gratitude.” Thank you to the Saskatoon Nature Society to help all the field trip participants become aware of nature’s beauty which abounds at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Your planning of this nature field trip on June 14, 2017 is gratefully appreciated! Words cannot express our feelings, nor the thanks for all your help.
“It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one destiny, affects all indirectly”~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hanson, Kim. Fire is for the Birds in Northern Mixed-Grass Prairie. Fire Science. he information for this Manager’s Viewpoint is based on JFSP Project 01-3-2-09, Prescribed Fire for Fuel Reduction in Northern Mixed-Grass Prairie: Influence on Habitat and Populations of Indigenous Wildlife and Future Forest Flammability; Principal Investigators: Robert K. Murphy, Todd A. Grant, and Elizabeth M. Madden.
“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.
“Healing the broken bond between children and nature may seem to be an overwhelming, even impossible task. But we must hold the conviction that the direction of this trend can be changed, or at least slowed. The alternative to holding and acting on that belief is unthinkable for human health and for the natural environment. The environmental attachment theory is a good guiding principle: attachment to land is good for child and land.” `Richard Louv
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 Bake
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
Saskatchewan Heritage defines Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) as that which “encompasses the underlying fabric of our lives — stories, skills, traditions, ways of doing things, ways of speaking, and ways of interacting with each other and the environment.”Source “Living Heritage are those values, beliefs, and ways of living we inherited from past generations that we still use to understand the present and make choices for the future.” Heritage Saskatchewan The City of Saskatoon has a true and rich heritage as can be seen in the Planning process of 1960. The conventional wisdom shown by Bert Wellman, Saskatoon Planning Department, A. L. Ligtemoet, Assistant Parks Superintendent City Planner Bill Graham certainly honours the time-honoured tradition and legacy set by the great foresters who stood before them, Richard St. Barbe Baker and John Evelyn.
What is happening at the afforestation areas to safeguard the legacy of Richard St. Barbe Baker and nurture the concept of Living Heritage?
How can you become involved in curating the Living Heritage of the afforestation areas in the southwest sectors of Saskatoon?
How can you create opportunities in your organisation or your class to relate the stores of the afforestation areas in Saskatoon and Richard St. Barbe Baker?
How do the afforestation areas in Saskatoon, these semi-wilderness urban forests, impact your personal cultural identity, and the concept of Saskatoon’s urban regional parks?
A story from Richard St. Barbe Baker’s international organisation Men of the Trees journal “Trees”; We have saved for posterity many trees and woodlands, besides influencing large-scale re-afforestation both at home and over-sees. But for our aid, the finest Redwood groves of California would have fallen to the axe.
John Evelyn, FRS (31 October 1620 – 27 February 1706) was an English writer, horticulturist, vegetarian, gardener and diarist.
We would like to think that the Spirit of John Evelyn lives on in the Men of the Trees of today and through our TREE – PLANTING FUND we are endeavouing to help to restore our tree cover. With the co-operation of affiliated nurserymen, throughout the country trees are being raised each year for planting during Arbour Week, November 4th-10th and onwards.
It is not sufficiently realized that many of todays major problems are directly due to ignorance of the importance of trees. Millions of acres of rich farmland are now deserts as a result of the wholesale destruction of trees and forests. The Sahara of Africa, the dustbowls of America and Austraila, and erosion in New Zealand are tragic evidence of the results of this ignorance.
It is a race between education and catastrophe. …With Ruskin they belive that: “God has lend us the earth for our life. It is a great entail. It belongs as much to those who are to come after us as to us and we have no right, by anything we do or neglect, to involve them in any unnecessary penalties, or deprive them of the benefit which was in our power to bequeath.” University of Saskatchewan, University Archives & Special Collections, Richard St. Barbe Baker fonds, MG 71.
John Evelyn, FRS (31 October 1620 – 27 February 1706) was an English writer, horticulturist, vegetarian, gardener and diarist. Evelyn wrote a treatise named Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees, even as early as 1664, Evelyn was aware of the need that a growing army required trees, economy and forestry went hand in hand. This book, Sylva, served as the foremost text on forestry, and even in contemporary times, is still being re-printed.
Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees 1664
The introduction, written by John Nisbet states; “It is unnecessary to say much about this charming classic of Forestry, of whose various excellences the reader can herein judge for himself. Gracefully written in nervous English and in a cultured style, ornately embellished according to the then prevailing custom by apt quotations from the Latin poets, it contains an enormous amount of information in the shape of legends and of facts ascertained by travel, of observation, and of experience. No man of his time could possibly have been better qualified than Evelyn for undertaking the special duty laid upon him; and he carried out his task in a brilliant manner. Sylva soon ran into several editions. …The publication of Sylva gave an enormous stimulus to planting in Britain, the benefits from which were subsequently reaped at the end of the XVIII and the beginning of the XIX century…Apart from the planting done in the royal woods and forests, details of Evelyn’s diary shew that he was frequently called upon to give advice with regard to laying out private plantations,—as well as of ornamental gardens, on which subject he was also considered one of the leading authorities of the time.”
As the international organisation “Men of the Trees” created by Richard St. Barbe Baker, treasured the treatise, Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees and walked in the footsteps of Richard St. Barbe Baker and John Evelyn. So, should the current generation learn from our past generations, and follow in the footsteps of these two foresters. Similarly, the role of the City of Saskatoon parks department, planting the 660 acres of afforestation areas in 1972 and preserving them in perpetuity, is truly a part of the City of Saskatoon’s rich heritage.
A green belt for the city starts with Bert Wellman, Saskatoon Planning Department, who walked around Saskatoon’s perimeter choosing high spots of land for scenic beauty. Together with City Planner Bill Graham they worked on parkways and planted trees for the 1960 Circle Drive Parkway at these sites. 1972, A. L. Ligtemoet, Assistant Parks Superintendent sets before council that these first 660 acres of afforestation areas be kept in perpetuity. The city pioneer’s Wellman, Graham, and Ligtemoet surely did, indeed follow in the footsteps of the conventional wisdom set down as building blocks in the forestry profession by Baker and Evelyn.
“Safeguarding our Living Heritage is accomplished through documentation, celebration, transmission of knowledge and skills, and adopting sustainable practices and processes…It sounded the trumpet of alarm to the nation on the condition of their woods and forests.’”Heritage Saskatchewan
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!
Our task must be to free ourselves … by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.~Albert Einstein
“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 work for peaceful construction for I am morally responsible for the world of today and the generations of tomorrow.’” ~ Richard St Barbe Baker
The forest is one of the most faithful friends of man.
“THE PART OF GOOD CITIZENS”A people without children would face a hopeless future; a country without trees is almost as helpless; forests which are so used that they cannot renew themselves will soon vanish, and with them all their benefits. When you help to preserve our forests or plant new ones you are acting the part of good citizens.
Theodore Roosevelt.
West Swale and the Riparian Woodlands Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, SK, CA BMX Jump Park Jumps
Shoreline of the West Swale Wetlands and the Riparian Woodlands Edge at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, SK, CA
Canada Goose Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and West Swale Wetlands, Saskatoon, Sk, CA
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
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 go towards the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, or the George Genereux Urban Regional Park, or both afforestation areas located in the Blairmore Sector. Please and thank you! Your donation is greatly appreciated.
“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.
Roche recognized that “almost all tree species studied to date exhibit habitat-correlated, genetically based variation. When the species is distributed over a wide range of environments, variation within a species is often very great. It is this variation, referred to as the genetic resources of the species, which is the basis of evolutionary development, and the starting point for selection and breeding programmes. Such programmes are virtually non-existant for tropical trees. ~ Laurence Roche.[3]”
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park. 