fungi – Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park.

City Nature Challenge Results

There is no doubt about it, the people who took part did take action towards global conservation efforts. It was Great to Be the Reason Nature Believes in Humanity. Thank you one and all for taking part for Saskatoon and Area!

View our Thank You Video!

To see the results and observations for our involvement in the City Nature Challenge, check out both iNaturalist Saskatoon and Area AND BioSmart portal for Saskatoon and Area. In Saskatoon we had amazing support from the City of Saskatoon for the City Nature Challenge.

The Saskatoon Nature Society came on board, and really pulled through! The City of Saskatoon entomologist, Sydney Worthy, was host at an insect workshop which helped the CNC and this workshop is still having ripple effects through the school system. The Saskatchewan Mycological Working Group were host to a Fungi and Lichen Workshop which likewise is having amazing spin-offs! Appreciation is extended to the Prairie Conservation Action Plan for hosting a City Nature Challenge presentation for the Native Prairie Speakers Series. For these and other City Nature Challenge virtual webinars and workshops, see YouTube. Thanks to the University of Saskatchewan environment and sustainability classes for their contributions. The classrooms of students from the Saskatoon Public School Board and the Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools were wonderful to see the student enthusiasm at both Brightwater at the afforestation areas, and around Saskatoon. Thanks to the Meewasin staff at Beaver Creek for helping out! Thank you to the Canadian Wildlife Federation WILD group for their assistance. Appreciations and rounds of applause to @lysandra, @MaryKrieger, @sarasims, Jacey Bell, Donovan Thiessen, andall the iNaturalist Observers and Identifiers. Thanks to the City of Saskatoon, Saskatoon Nature Society, SaskTel, SaskPower, SaskEnergy, Mosaic, EcoFriendly West were super to help with the logistics for the planning this event. Thanks to everyone in the area around Saskatoon. Check out “explore” on iNat or go to BioSmart. Hats off to Wild About Saskatoon, Cpaws and Nature Conservancy of Canada for helping to make the event happen, indeed. We wish to say thank you kindly to the Saskatoon Media Group for their radio announcements also, that was wonderful to get the word out! Thanks to everyone who shared the social media assets as well. It was wonderful to meet the organizing crew of the Canadian Wildlife Federation, California Academy of Sciences, Natural History Museum Los Angeles County. In the words of Richard St. Barbe Baker, Twihamwe or pull together echoes the Province of Saskatchewan Motto, Multis e gentibus vires (From Many Peoples Strength). This pulling together happened during the first ever Saskatoon City Nature Challenge and our statistics show we had the second highest results for the prairie provinces in Canada – imagine that! What a show of support for wildlife and conservation! If we have inadvertently missed any group or contributing organization, please email, and we apologize most humbly – it has been a most busy week. And, of course, thank you to all the individuals who are passionate about nature and who helped out just because they like to be out in nature, and taking observations, or helping with identifications, it was an amazing four day bio-blitz cram session.

The Global City Nature Challenge Statistics show an amazing result: 1,570,392 Observations worldwide. 50,270 Total Species were observed Globally. 64,238 People around the World took part.

In Saskatoon and area, in this very early springtime, there were 14 species at risk sighted.

American Elm Ulmus americana

American White Pelican Pelecanus erythrorhynchos

Blackbottle Protophormia terraenovae

Common Grackle Quiscalus quiscula

Cooper’s Hawk Accipiter cooperii

Early Blue Violet Viola palmata

Goldenrod Gall Fly Eurosta solidaginis

Green Ash Fraxinus pennsylvanica

Louisiana Broomrape Aphyllon ludovicianum

Osprey Pandion haliaetus

Prairie Violet Viola pedatifida

Togwoteeus biceps

Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura

Yellow-banded Bumble Bee Bombus terricola

YouTube

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 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!

Donations can be made through Paypal, Canada Helps, Contact Donate A Car Canada, SARCAN Drop & Go 106100594 for the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc.

United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

Use the UN Decade’s Visual Identity
Make it your own
Spread the word about the UN Decade
Let’s Bring Back Forests
Let’s Green Our Cities

“Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven..”
Richard St. Barbe Baker

End of Day 3 CNCYXE2022

It is the end of May 1, the third day of the Saskatoon City Nature Challenge April 29 to May 2. Thanks to everyone who has added observations on iNaturalist! Come out on Monday May 2, and make a difference!

It was an interesting day to follow through on the Insect Workshop. So, when you take a peek into pond water of marshes like the Chappell Marsh at Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, there are bugs in the water swimming around! Here is a Pond Life video of the Caddisfly larva which was found! And following up on the Fungi including Lichen Workshop, 60 different observations have taken place for Lichen and shelf fungi are being noted at this time of the year.

Stay tuned for the follow up identification party virtual zoom workshops so you can discuss your finds during the City Nature Challenge with specialists!

And, now just a bit of a word about our Saskatoon and Area Species at Risk which were found so far…By randomly taking pictures across Saskatoon and area, it is fantastic what was discovered!

Goldenrod Gall Fly
Eurosta solidaginis

Togwoteeus biceps

Green Ash
Fraxinus pennsylvanica

American White Pelican
Pelecanus erythrorhynchos

Blackbottle
Protophormia terraenovae

Turkey Vulture
Cathartes aura

Louisiana Broomrape
Aphyllon ludovicianum

Prairie Violet
Viola pedatifida

Early Blue Violet
Viola palmata

So, now is the time to get involved

Observe April 29-May 2

Countdown has begun!

How many birds, bugs, feathers, lichen, plants, animals, etc can you find?

Are you coming?

Three easy steps

Find it

Snap it

Share it

Enjoy the outdoors whilst supporting vital conservation research by making observations April 29 to May

http://friendsareas.ca/

https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com/

friendsafforestation@gmail.com

City Nature Challenge CNCYXE Saskatoon area versus YQRCNC Regina and area in a mini SK challenge

Celebrate 50 years! Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional park were planted to trees in 1972, 50 years ago. Come out and say Happy Birthday!

YouTube

Donations can be made through Paypal, Canada Helps, Contact Donate A Car Canada, SARCAN Drop & Go 106100594 for the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc.

United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

Use the UN Decade’s Visual Identity
Make it your own
Spread the word about the UN Decade
Let’s Bring Back Forests
Let’s Green Our Cities

“Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven..”
Richard St. Barbe Baker

#CityNatureChallenge #iNaturalistCanada #Biodiversity Founded by @NHMLA and @CalAcademy Community Science hosted by #friendsdareas #NatureCanada #CityNatureChallenge #BioBlitz #CitSciMonth #CommunityScience #CitizenScience #UrbanNature #UrbanBiodiversity #NatureInTheCity #NatureIsEverywhere #NatureForEveryone #NatureNerd #cnc #outdoors #nature #conservation #photography #biodiversity #citizenscience #inaturalist #wildlife #plantlife #wanderlust #naturelovers #optoutside #instagood #picoftheday #volunteer #training #parks #optingoutside #CNCYXE #CNCYXE2022 #FriendsAreas #FriendsAfforestation #citizenscience #communityscience #EcologicalEmergency #naturelovers @sasktel #inaturalist #saskatchewanbirds #yxebirds #getoutdoors #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #citynaturechallenge2022 #yxe #thegreatoutdoors #citynaturechallenge2022 #citynaturechallenge #Canadacitynaturechallenge #citizenscience #Volunteering #nativeprairie #grasslands #wildlife #bees #pollinators #prairiepollinators #ExploreSask #NatureSask #wildlifewatcher #prairielife #sasklife #nativeprairie #speciesatrisk #conservation #KeepSaskWild #socialdistance #citizenscience #wildlifephotography #beesknees #LeavetheLeaves #NoMowMay #nature4all #FriendsAreas #FriendsAfforestation @FriendsAreas #saskatoon #saskatooning

City Nature Challenge ID Party

Help to place Saskatoon and Area on the World Nature Stage!

This is an amazing virtual ID session to flip unknowns on iNaturalist! Have you never come across an unknown on iNaturalist? Well here is a wonderful evening of fun!

This is a hints and tips workshop on making iNaturalist identifications being offered to get you motivated and inspired. Whence you watch that YouTube video, you will surely wish to hop on board on Fri, May 6, 2022 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM CST for the City Nature Challenge ID or Identification Party

Anyone at all can help with identifications, and help flip unknowns! You don’t even have to know anything about the species. Teams of experts will be reviewing and updating the information that’s submitted, so you can log back in later and learn more about what you’ve been working on. You get out of iNaturalist what you put into it!

So it is just fine if you just stay with the larger taxon unit, and suggest that the observation looks like an elephant, deer, rhinoceros, butterfly, flowering plant, ant, spider, and just let the specialist scientists do the rest. There are extra points in Saskatchewan for anyone who discovers the elephant and rhinoceros in the Saskatchewan observations though 😉

We look forward to you coming on by! The City Nature Challenge runs between April 29 to May 2 Saskatoon and area will compete for the title of the most Biodiverse City. We need your help. The goals are to engage the public in the collection of biodiversity data, with three awards each year for the cities and areas that 1/ makes the most observations, 2/ find the most species, and 3/ engage the most people. We’re so excited to have this fun friendly competition with a chance to place Saskatoon and Area on the World Stage for the City Nature Challenge 2022! #CNCYXE People going out during their baseball games, and finding ladybugs on their iNaturalist app, or taking photos through iNaturlist of ants while watching soccer games is wonderful! What about the dog walk, what plants and animals will FIDO sniff at? With iNaturalist loaded onto your smart phone, you can find the names of these plants and animals, insects and mushrooms. Help your students and sons, and daughters discover the names of What is it?

These identification parties are wonderful tools to “find the most species.” So thanks for coming along.

iNaturalist Connect with nature for the City Nature Challenge Saskatoon and Area Défi nature urbaine hosted by the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc.

Camera, Photgraph your story in the forest — iNaturalist Connect with nature for the City Nature Challenge Saskatoon and Area Défi nature urbaine hosted by the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc.

Volunteer Week!

April 24 – 30 is National Volunteer Week. Volunteer for the

City Nature Challenge – City Nature Challenge

Home

City Nature Challenge Saskatoon and Area 2022

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2022-saskatoon-sk

In love with Saskatoon and Area’s incredible nature? You can help observe on iNat & protect it by joining this year’s #CityNatureChallenge, April 29–May 2! All you need to join is a smartphone and the free @inaturalist app. Learn more at FriendsAreas.ca Explore back yards, the afforestation areas, along the boulevards of our city streets, in the nooks and crannys of fences and trees. Participating is easy: just make observations of wild plants, animals, and fungi, anywhere in the Saskatoon and Area with the free @inaturalist app April 29 – May 2, and they’ll automatically be added to this project.

The CNC was organized by citizen science staff at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (Lila Higgins) and California Academy of Sciences (Alison Young). The City Nature Challenge has become a global effort for people to find and document plants and wildlife in cities across the globe in support of world conservation efforts. It’s a fun citizen science event with a challenge where cities are in a contest against each other to see who can make the most observations of nature, who can find the most species, and who can engage the most people.

Being involved is super easy!

connect with nature- fungi, insects, Plants and Wildlife

From the CNC FAQ page; Take photos, or sound recordings of “any observations of WILD plants, animals, fungi, seaweed, bacteria, lichen, etc. you find in and around your city! Observations of living or dead organisms, or evidence of those organisms, like shells, seeds, tracks, scat, pinecones, feathers, etc., are fine. Remember to make sure you’re taking good photos of the organisms!”

Take a Picture

Take a picture of what you discover in nature. The iNaturalist app records the GPS location of the critter or plant – and you can set it to obscured or leave it as publicly known. (Don’t change location to private or it won’t be part of the City Nature Challenge)

Share!

Upload, share, save your observations through iNaturalist or Ebird or Observation.org

Duties

Why participate in the City Nature Challenge?

There is nature all around us, even in our cities! As the urban footprint and the human monoculture keeps expanding, nature is often overlooked in our cities, which has become a safe haven for many wild animals who no longer have a wild habitat. You cannot protect what you don’t know, and all of us – citizen scientists, scientists, land managers, and the community – come together in Twihamwe “working together as one” to find and document the nature in our area. The Saskatchewan Motto strengthens the volunteer spirit of the City Nature Challenge’ Multis e Gentibus Vires (Latin) (“From Many Peoples Strength!”) By participating in the City Nature Challenge, you can learn more about your local nature, and at the same time you can also make your city a better place – for you and nature!

For the COVID-19 pandemic, some modifications were implemented into the City Nature Challenge 2020 and 2021 to help keep both organizers and participants safe. It is way more important to focus on collaboration rather than competition. And we want to know about and embrace the healing power of nature and encourage the sharing of unique stories, species, habitat ranges found during the CNC. Look inside your own homes, in your own yard, in your local bus stop, along your boulevard or local park. Keep safe, follow all health guidelines for COVID, follow all health guidelines for nature as well! This year’s City Nature Challenge is a hybrid between collaboration and competition.

Create your own iNaturalist account

Visit iNaturalist.org
Download the app from the AppStore or Google Play
Sign In
Start sharing your observations
Check back later to see the conversation about your observation!

Qualifications

iNaturalist is an free observation platform that uses both computer recognition vision technology alongside crowd sourced corroboration that acts as a place for people to record biodiversity observations, interact with other enthusiasts, and learn about organisms. Observations from iNaturalist also enrich biodiversity science within open science projects such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL). Scientists (and anyone) can freely access and use these data to address their research questions. iNaturalist is as easy to use as 1-2-3!

Find It

Snap It

Share It

This guide, along with YouTube Videos, and planned Virtual events for volunteers who wish to take part will walk you through recommendations for the best ways to use iNaturalist with students in formal or informal settings so they learn from the experience and contribute high-quality observations to the iNaturalist community.

What kinds of observations of nature should I make during the CNC?

Any observations of WILD plants, animals, fungi, seaweed, bacteria, lichen, etc. you find in and around your city! Remember to check under the leaves of your cultivated plants. Observations of living or dead organisms, or evidence of those organisms, like shells, tracks, scat, feathers, etc., are fine. Remember to make sure you’re taking good photos of the organisms!

Celebrate 50 years! Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional park were planted to trees in 1972, 50 years ago. Come out and say Happy Birthday!

Regina YQRCNC vs Saskatoon CNCYXE SK mini Challenge for the City Nature Challenge — City Nature Challenge CNCYXE Saskatoon area versus YQRCNC Regina and area in a mini SK challenge

YouTube

Donations can be made through Paypal, Canada Helps, Contact Donate A Car Canada, SARCAN Drop & Go 106100594 for the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc.

United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

Use the UN Decade’s Visual Identity
Make it your own
Spread the word about the UN Decade
Let’s Bring Back Forests
Let’s Green Our Cities

“Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven..”
Richard St. Barbe Baker

We need your help!

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
– Gandhi

During this National Volunteer Week, April 24 – 30 celebrate the theme; ‘Volunteering is Empathy in Action.’

Have empathy for the very last time you may see a species at risk if action is not taken. Have empathy for the declining songbird population. Have empathy for the many organisms in the insect and fungi taxons which have not even been named yet, and which may go extinct before people pay attention to them.

Your contributions as an observer during the City Nature Challenge taking place April 29 to May 2 does take action to support global conservation efforts! Just download the free iNaturalist app and sign in, then;

Find it!

Snap it!

Share it!

“You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.”
Winston Churchill

What can you give to protect Mother Earth? The City Nature Challenge is your way to take action, so that you can answer I took action!

Taking a photo of mushrooms (fungi) with a smart phone

Mushrooms, Grasshopper, Caterpillar, Fungi — Taking a photo of mushrooms (fungi) with a smart phone

Celebrate 50 years! Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional park were planted to trees in 1972, 50 years ago. Come out and say Happy Birthday!

YouTube

Donations can be made through Paypal, Canada Helps, Contact Donate A Car Canada, SARCAN Drop & Go 106100594 for the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc.

United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

Use the UN Decade’s Visual Identity
Make it your own
Spread the word about the UN Decade
Let’s Bring Back Forests
Let’s Green Our Cities

“Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven..”
Richard St. Barbe Baker

Focus on Fungi, Conks, and Lichen

City Nature Challenge I.D. Party Fungi and Lichen Thu, May 5, 2022 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM CST

Get together virtually in attendance specialists from the Saskatchewan Mycological Working Group to help with I.D.s on Fungi including Lichen

We’ll start off with an introduction on how to make identifications using iNaturalist and will go through some observations together, so join in if you’d like to learn more about how to help with IDs! After that, folks can jump off if they’d like to work on IDs on their own, but we’ll stick around if people would like to share some of the observations they’re coming across or just want to chat more about the City Nature Challenge, fungi, lichen, conks in general. Maybe you have a poser, or a puzzler and you would like some help with something you saw when you were outside.

Did you know that…

“iNaturalist began in 2008 as a UC Berkeley School of Information Master’s final project of Nate Agrin, Jessica Kline, and Ken-ichi Ueda. Nate Agrin and Ken-ichi Ueda continued work on the site with Sean McGregor, a web developer. In 2011, Ueda began collaboration with Scott Loarie, a research fellow at Stanford University and lecturer at UC Berkeley. Ueda and Loarie are the current co-directors of iNaturalist.org.The organization merged with the California Academy of Sciences on April 24, 2014. In 2017, iNaturalist became a joint initiative between the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society.

Since 2012, the number of participants and observations has roughly doubled each year.In 2014, iNaturalist reached 1 million observations and as of December 2021 there were 99 million observations.”

So here we are, now in Saskatoon, adding our plants, fungi, conks, lichen, animals, insects to iNaturalist so specialist scientists can look at our local data to make decisions to save species at risk, and to control invasive species, and to see how climate change is affecting the planet with range expansions and contractions. Thanks for taking part in the City Nature Challenge April 29 – May 2 by downloading iNaturalist, and taking picture of wildlife!

There is also a City nature Challenge Hints and Tips workshop on lichens and tree conks on Mon, April 25, 2022 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM CST featuring the Saskatchewan Mycological Working Group which may help out also

Celebrate 50 years! Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional park were planted to trees in 1972, 50 years ago. Come out and say Happy Birthday!

YouTube

Donations can be made through Paypal, Canada Helps, Contact Donate A Car Canada, SARCAN Drop & Go 106100594 for the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc.

United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

Use the UN Decade’s Visual Identity
Make it your own
Spread the word about the UN Decade
Let’s Bring Back Forests
Let’s Green Our Cities

“Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven..”
Richard St. Barbe Baker

George Genereux Nature Canvass

CITY NATURE CHALLENGE George Genereux Nature Canvass Mon., 2 May 2022 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm Central Standard Time

What a great time of year to go out and about as spring is in the air, and the birds are migrating into the willows, and the meadow grass is sweet.

Did you know that….

“iNaturalist is a social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists built on the concept of mapping and sharing observations of biodiversity across the globe. iNaturalist may be accessed via its website or from its mobile applications. As of February 2021, iNaturalist users had contributed approximately 66 million observations of plants, animals, fungi, and other organisms worldwide, and around 130,000 users were active in the previous 30 days.

iNaturalist describes itself as “an online social network of people sharing biodiversity information to help each other learn about nature”, with its primary goal being to connect people to nature. Although it is not a science project itself, iNaturalist is a platform for science and conservation efforts, providing valuable open data to research projects, land managers, other organizations, and the public. It is the primary application for crowd-sourced biodiversity data in places such as Mexico, southern Africa, and Australia,and the project has been called “a standard-bearer for natural history mobile applications.””[source]

It will be a pleasure to meet you, and the willows would love to meet you. There are no river willows in George Genereux park, they are full sized tree willows.

Caragana Flower Blooom FRichard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK CA — Caragana Flower Blooom Saskatoon, SK CA

Thermopsis rhombifolia flowers - Buffalo Bean Nadiatalent CCx4 — Caragana Flower Blooom Saskatoon, SK CA

Celebrate 50 years! Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional park were planted to trees in 1972, 50 years ago. Come out and say Happy Birthday!

YouTube

Donations can be made through Paypal, Canada Helps, Contact Donate A Car Canada, SARCAN Drop & Go 106100594 for the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc.

United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

Use the UN Decade’s Visual Identity
Make it your own
Spread the word about the UN Decade
Let’s Bring Back Forests
Let’s Green Our Cities

“Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven..”
Richard St. Barbe Baker

City Nature Challenge Fungi and Lichen Observation Hints and Tips

Join us virtually Monday April 25 at 7:00 pm CST to find out how to get your iNaturalist photo of mushrooms and lichens identified! A fun way to learn What is It? What will you see during the City Nature Challenge between April 29 and May 2? The Saskatchewan Mycological Working Group has some ideas of what might be around in the early spring, and how to keep an eye open for Fungi and Lichen! Sounds exciting!

About this event

Join specialists from the Saskatchewan Mycological Working Group as they explain about mushrooms and lichen.

To have a better understanding of liichen and mushroom ecology and have a much better opportunity to receive an identification of your amazing lichen and mushroom iNaturalist photos.

These hints and tips are a wonderful clue for where to look, what are the mushroom seasons, and how to find mushrooms and lichen.

This webinar is an introduction to Fungi including Lichen with the #CNCYXE Saskatoon and Area City Nature Challenge happening April 29 – May 2 hosted by the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas. The identification phase is May 3 to May 8 with the City Nature Challenge winners announced on May 9

The free iNaturalist app is a powerful tool to use and as easy as 1-2-3 !

Download the free INaturalist app then sign in
Find plants, trees covered in lichen or conks, stones covered in lichen, mushrooms nearby to take pictures using iNaturalist’s Computer Vision technology
Upload your observation to the crowd-sourced species identification system

That being said, this virtual webinar session will assist you to connect with the iNaturalist global community of naturalists, scientists, and members of the public in making great identifications of your mushroom [fungi] and lichen observations!

The goals for the City Nature Challenge are three.

Engage the most people
Make the most observations
Find the Most species in the Saskatoon And Area

The wonderful thing about this webinar is that the hints and tips learned today will be applicable throughout all the most wonderful fungi and lichen seasons to enhance your naturalist journey and journal entries.

There is also an iNaturalist I.D. Party after the City Nature Challenge with a focus on lichen and tree “conks” with the Saskatchewan Mycological Working Group happening May 5 at 7:00 which will use the information from this workshop! Do you have a puzzler? Did you find you have more questions? Do you just want to know more about inaturalist identifications and how it all works?

YouTube

Donations can be made through Paypal, Canada Helps, Contact Donate A Car Canada, SARCAN Drop & Go 106100594 for the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc.

United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

Use the UN Decade’s Visual Identity
Make it your own
Spread the word about the UN Decade
Let’s Bring Back Forests
Let’s Green Our Cities

“Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven..”
Richard St. Barbe Baker

Elm Trees and Pruning

Do you have some Elm trees you wish to prune on city and area properties, prune them now! Remember pruning or chopping down trees in a City of Saskatoon park is covered under the City of Saskatoon urban tree policy – so you must contact the City of Saskatoon.

The elm pruning ban begins April 1st, and is in effect until August 31st- that is the time period when it is illegal to prune Elm trees on your property

The Elm bark beetle is the most active during these warmer months April 1-August 31. The Elm Bark Beetles lead to the spread of Dutch Elm disease and are attracted to the injuries in the Elm trees such as those caused by pruning.

Both American Elm and Siberian Elm are susceptible to Dutch Elm Disease, which actually is a fungal virus carried around on the backs of the Elm Bark Beetle.

To date, there has been found no way to cure the pandemic of Dutch Elm disease. To prevent it from spreading, and taking out this beautiful leafy American Elm tree canopy across Saskatchewan, trees should be removed immediately and disposed of by choosing from burning, burial or take the branches to the landfill for disposal there.

Never, ever break the law and store or transport Elm for firewood or for any other reason. Whatever you do, do not throw or discard Elm into any forested area, such as Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area or George Genereux Park. These greenspaces have a plethora of elm, which add to the beauty of the green space area. The wood from firewood or pruned branches can harbor the Elm bark beetle, which is how the Dutch Elm disease can spread so quickly from tree to tree, city to city, province to province. and ravage and decimate our enjoyment of forests and trees.

Pay attention after Easter, for as the trees are supposed to be greening up, pay attention to the Elm appearance around you. Those trees that have been infected by Dutch Elm disease, will show leaves turning yellow, then curl and brown in the spring. This sign of “flagging” will start at the top of the Elm tree in the crown, and continue until the until the autumn colours appear.

The City of Saskatoon webpages say; “Residents who start to notice any of these symptoms, are encouraged to complete the online form below or call Urban Biological Services at 306-975-2890.“

Therefore, at your home or farm, please trim your Elm trees before April 1st. Afterwards do NOT store Elm wood on your property, or on anyone else’s property, and not in the afforestation areas. Take your pruned branches, and trimmings straight to the landfill.

Tree Care SOS Trees Coalition Formerly SOS Elms

City of Saskatoon Dutch Elm Disease

Province of Saskatchewan Dutch Elm Disease

Elm trees are a valuable part of our ecosystem. “Seeds are an important source of food for birds and mammals, with large “mast” seeds being especially valued by wildlife” source Besides the birds eating elm seeds and the leaves provide nutrition and food for the caterpillars of many moths. There are species of butterflies and moths which have declined dramatically since the spread of Dutch elm disease. It is a ripple effect, we must all do our part to protect species at risk, when DED is spread so much faster with the aid of vehicle transporting pruned branches and firewood and not disposing of same appropriately.

The International Day of Forests proclaimed by the United Nations is March 21. How will you celebrate this auspicious occasion?

“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

YouTube

Donations can be made through Paypal, Canada Helps, Contact Donate A Car Canada, SARCAN Drop & Go 106100594 for the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc.

United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

Use the UN Decade’s Visual Identity
Make it your own
Spread the word about the UN Decade
Let’s Bring Back Forests
Let’s Green Our Cities

“Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven..”
Richard St. Barbe Baker

The Best Soil Worker

WorldSoilDayLogo

“As long as a soil is covered with forest, its humus is maintained. The basic forest problem lies in its composition and regeneration. In the forest the process of decay and growth always balance one another. The vegetable wastes together with the by-products of the animal population form a mixture on the forest floor. As we examine this mixture from time to time we find it remains practically constant in depth, in spite of annual additions from leaf-fall that take place. This mixture is drawn upon at an even rate by earthworms, fungi and bacteria, and the resulting humus in turn is absorbed by the soil and provides the trees and under growth with the food materials they require. Thus the forest manures itself and with the help of the earthworms and other animal distributes this manure through the upper layers of the soil. Everything is done by Nature quietly and efficiently. No artificial fertilizers, no selective weed killers, no pesticides and no machinery are needed in the household of the natural forest.~Richard St. Barbe Baker My Life My Trees

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“The worm is the best farm worker. Darwin told us all there was to know about the life history of the worm. But what he didn’t teach us is how to harness the worm. And this I’ve been trying to do for the past forty years. To teach people how to use the worm on their farms and in their gardens by helping them to increase the humus, aerate the soil. And on the fringe of the Sahara and in Israel where I started planting trees over fifty years ago, we put a stone or a couple of stones for every tree on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho in our plantations in the Judean hills. And if a goat knocked a stone off, the tree would die.

“The stone is there to water the tree; this is what we call stone mulching or top mulching. The stone draws down the heat and it draws up the heat from below and draws up the moisture and will protect the worm. The worm will come up and down, and enjoy a cool night under the stone in the moisture that is accumulated under the stone. And in the morning the worm goes down again.

“If you pick up that stone you’ll see two or three worms just underneath, all in the cool and damp. But what is not generally understood is that you can’t have superphosphate and worms. The worms don’t like the superphosphate or any of the chemicals or weed killers and things you put on the crops now, these selective killers. You have to make up your mind whether you’re going to harness the worm or you’re going to work for the chemical merchant.” Richard St. Barbe Baker

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

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“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

“It is not the land itself that constitutes the farmer’s wealth, but it is in the constituents of the soil, which serve for the nutrition of plants, that this wealth truly consists.”—Liebig.

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