During this COVID-19 pandemic, take some time during Earth Month this April to learn what makes these afforestation areas so special. This online resource allows one to follow COVID-19 protocols, and stay home while still experiencing nature. The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan talks about the trembling aspen, white spruce and balsam poplar, trees of the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional Park. Trembling Aspen is quite unique during a very short time span in the spring. These clones of trees in the aspen bluff will flower, and thus, the astute observer can determine whether that particular clone is female or male. These afforestation areas planted in 1972 made use of drought resistant, hardy tree species recommended by the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA) as the afforestation areas were started as tree nurseries for the City of Saskatoon Parks. The trees, now much too large to transplant, have created two urban regional parks.
Scots Pine, pine cones, or Pinus_sylvestris. Open cones and seeds. Photo by Didier Descouens
Richard St. Barbe Baker OBE, Hon. LL.D. F.I.A.L., For.Dip.Cantab., ACF (9 October 1889 – 9 June 1982)
Happy Valentine’s Day!
National Sweater Day First Thursday of February
How many different kinds of Spruce trees are in the afforestation areas? How does one tell various spruce species one from another? Stay tuned.
Did you know that spring phenological earth day events happen every day!
“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.” John Muir
Today is Monday, April 20, and two days until Earth Day. This year’s Earth Day 2020 theme is Climate Action. When you experience a phenological event during the spring, what is your carbon footprint, if you are staying home and observing protocols for this pandemic?
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 / e-transfers)
“If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking. Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk.” — Raymond Inmon
A great and undeniable problem has arisen. The dilemna which calls calls from the heights of the untrodden immutable forest kingdom. Yet borne up within by courage unflinching, the morning’s faint light through the narrow embrasure, rugged, majestic, the trees, they tower far above.
The June Rose has bloomed as if on cue with calendraic reminder that May has past. Joining June Rose across the vast prairies is Canada Anemone, white and true, and waving as a spring bonnet in the breeze High Hush Cranberry flower doilies toss to and fro. Traveling yet the plains, what could possibly capture the heart more than the delicate bloom of the False Solomon’s Seal and Bunch Berry or, no, it just may be the blossom of the Red Osier Dogwood.
One may then cry out forests are perfect! However, that leads one to the problem at hand. In the course of this June study we shall have to touch on what is called the problem of perfection and grandeur. But in this primary matter of the ideal the difficulty is not the problem of magnificence, or perfection, but mayhaps the problem of abundance. Life, thus unfolds and is full of little problems, which arise suddenly and find one wholly unprepared with a solution.
What is that you say? Is it not a wonder to behold the sunset, A gold fringe on the purpling hem of woodlands or mayhaps the sunrise, the fresh-blown rose of dawn, is that not what one should call perfect and spectacular? The reflections of the sky captured in the waters below, amplifying the beauty times two – nay this is perfection! Did you forget perchance, amid the broken clouds the rainbow’s angel spanned? The double rainbow colours bright or light prism dancing amid the crystal dew, what could be more perfect than that? Did you not catch sight of the butterfly flittering past, the Swallowtail and Fritallaries and Mourning Cloaks? Did you stop to listen to listen to the warbling notes from her fair songsters’ feathered throats ~ are these tunes not Perfection at its finest?
You are left free to judge of these problems and dilemnas now with fresh minds to ponder and consider these issues… And this brings the tale to another problem. Which is more perfect, the wetlands fresh the new families of ducks, and goslings or the understorey bedecked in blooms, or the marsh spangled with the rays of the Aurora Borealis? How, then is one to choose? On this particular June day, how will the problem resolve? Or do your heart strings pull at the sight of a glorious winter’s hoar frost day, the majestic mountain, rippling waterfall, or span of ocean?
“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” — John Muir
Be contented; enjoy your fine imagination; and do not throw your salad out of window, nor shove your cat off your knee, on hearing it said that Shakespeare has a finer, or that a minister is of opinion that you know more of music than of nature.
The exertion of intellectual power, of fancy and imagination affords us greatly more than their enjoyment. We are motes in the midst of generations: we have our sunbeams to circuit and climb. Look at the summits of the trees around us, how they move, and the loftiest the most: nothing is at rest within the compass of our view.
Do not imagine that the illusion is, or can be, or ought to be, complete. Imagination makes encroachments on the heart, and uses it as her own. Imagination could finish the story, this single June Day confronts the senses with the main outline of the whole problem.
“Yesterday was the happiest day of my life. Every new day that follows the previous day is happier and what better than this I can wish for my friend. “I wish you health and strength of an oak, the long life of a redwood.” 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 / e-transfers )
Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers 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
“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.
Hiking Boots ready for the trail
DEDICATION.I need give my verse no hint as to whom it sings for. The rose, knowing her own right, makes servitors of the light-rays to carry her color. So every line here shall in some sense breathe of thee, and in its very face bear record of her whom, however unworthily, it seeks to serve and honor. ~George Parsons Lathrop
“Let children walk with Nature, let them see the beautiful blendings and communions of death and life, their joyous inseparable unity, as taught in woods and meadows, plains and mountains and streams of our blessed star, and they will learn that death is stingless indeed, and as beautiful as life.” ~John Muir
Tree Planting Song
“A society grows great when old men plant trees
whose shade they know they shall never sit in”
Children of the Green Earth Motto
“a great
man
is
gone. Tall as the truth was who; and
wore his
… life
like a …
sky.”
―E. E. Cummings
On June 9, 2011, the British Columbia government renames a portion of the Trans-Canada Highway. Those driving between Langley and Abbotsford will be traversing “The Highway of Heroes.” The commemoration is to honour 13 BC soldiers who gave the supreme sacrifice in Afghanistan. Victoria, BC.
The Maori of yore revered his natural tree cover, the giant Kauris, pines and Totaras. When a great Maori Chieftain fell in battle, or died, they would say: “Surely a great Totara tree has fallen.”~Richard St. Barbe Baker
What tributes and accolades have honoured Richard St. Barbe Baker? In Saskatoon, the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area has its dedication ceremony on June 15, 1985. On the University of Saskatchewan campus, a conference inaugurated the Richard St. Barbe Baker Foundation June 4 and 5 1984. In 2013, near the site of St. Barbe’s last tree planting [just days before his death], the Meewasin Valley Authority and the Saskatoon Baha’i Community erected a plaque commemorating St. Barbe.
How will you celebrate the memory of Richard St. Barbe Baker?
Will you be as the Watu wa Miti, or Men of the Trees? The forest scouts who promised that they would protect the native forest, plant ten native trees each year, and take care of trees everywhere.
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map
Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)
Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!
What was Richard St. Barbe Baker’s mission, that he imparted to the Watu Wa Miti, the very first forest scouts or forest guides? To protect the native forest, plant ten native trees each year, and take care of trees everywhere.
“Wilderness is not a luxury but necessity of the human spirit.” –Edward Abbey
“The Environmental Protection Agency now warns us that indoor air pollution is the nation’s number one environmental threat to health- and it’s from two to ten times worse than outdoor air pollution. A child indoors is more susceptible to spore of toxic molds growing under that plush carpet; or bacteria or allergens carried by household vermin; or carbon monoxide, radon and lead dust. The allergen level of newer, sealed buildings can be as much as two hundred times greater than that of older structures.” Richard Louv
Is this not the best reason to go outside, and to treasure the great outdoors.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.—Margaret Mead
White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
Cardiovascular benefits, and heart health forest walking
“The earth has music for those who listen.” –William Shakespeare
“Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.” –John Muir
Pelican Preenning
Muskrat West Swale Wetlands. Chappell Marsh. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA
“Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life!” – Albert Einstein
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map
Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)
Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!
What was Richard St. Barbe Baker’s mission, that he imparted to the Watu Wa Miti, the very first forest scouts or forest guides? To protect the native forest, plant ten native trees each year, and take care of trees everywhere.
“Wilderness is not a luxury but necessity of the human spirit.” –Edward Abbey
“This generation may either be the last to exist in any semblance of a civilised world or that it will be the first to have the vision, the bearing and the greatness to say, ‘I will have nothing to do with this destruction of life, I will play no part in this devastation of the land, I am determined to live and …today it is the duty of every thinking being to live, and to serve not only his own day and generation, but also generations unborn by helping to restore and maintain the green glory of the forests of the earth. ” Richard St. Barbe Baker
“Two things never mix: one is enchantments and the other is meddling with them.”
― Lloyd Alexander
10:24 PM on Tuesday, June 20, 2017.
Summer solstice 10:24 PM on Tuesday, June 20, 2017 come out and savour the first moment of summer.
“Bluebells are coming,” sing the Imp and the Elf, and so they are, and with the blue-bells comes Summer.” Arthur Ransome
.
Spring with its yellow Buffalo Bean, the pale aspen wearing their new bright green dresses. For now it is summer and the whole forest will be green. For in summer, the prairie clover reaches high above the flowering grasses. Summer is prime to sight the Sharp-tailed Grouse, and Ruddy Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, and American White Pelican. ill you, this summer spy a Kildeer, Black Tern or Mourning Dove? Downy Woodpecker, and Northern Flicker visit all year long, yet the Least Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, Western and Eastern Kingbird will only appear for the summer months.
“You may say you won’t interfere with another person’s soul, but you do—merely by existing. The snag about it is the practical difficulty, so to speak, of not existing.”
― Dorothy L. Sayers
July brings the bright rays of the Gaillardia, a striking contrast to the delicate flowers of the Northern Bedstraw. Harebell alongside Slender Beard-Tongue adds a hint of blue and lavender to the prairie biome. The Silver-leaf Psorlea tall and elegant, leaves a dash of blue like a hint of spice, The Purple Prairie Clover begins its dance with whorls of colour starting at the base of its dress, blooming ever higher. The Western snowberry shows off with its amazing pinkish white bells. Keep your eyes peeled for the Skeleton Weed, Hairy Golden-aster and White Cinquefoil painting the grasslands with delicate bursts of colour for those sauntering through the open prairie.
“Two things never mix: one is enchantments and the other is meddling with them.”
― Lloyd Alexander
Tell us what Summer is like for you.
What are the things we know summer by? Perchance summer dresses, and tailored shorts, toques give way to summer hats. Finding a cool, comfortable place, and do tell of those things which make the forest prairie so delightful.
The holes are full of rabbits, and the summer grass grows high. You know thistles and dandelions, of course, but I wonder if you know the wild orchid when you see one? What will you do these long summer evenings? The scenery is peaceful, foliage of the groves and forests verdant, and rich beyond compare. Have you tasted summer? Warm, mellow summer with glowing sunbeams to make every nerve tingle. Have you made acquaintance with the little bird which flits around the branches of the shrubbery? This little brown job flits in and around the branches of the buffaloberry and snowberry bushes. Playing and dancing on the wind in a frisky way, sure to attract attention, then behind a leaf and it is gone.
” Every morning, arising from the death of sleep, the happy plants and all our fellow animal creatures great and small, and even the rocks, seemed to be shouting, “Awake, awake, rejoice, rejoice, come love us and join in our song. Come! Come!” John Muir.
Summer solstice 10:24 PM on Tuesday, June 20, 2017 come out and savour the first moment of summer.
“Never stand in the way of letting God use people’s actions, in order to solve a greater issue in the world.”
― Shannon L. Alder
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!
![IMG_8741[1]](https://stbarbebaker.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/img_87411.jpg?w=358&resize=358%2C358&h=358#038;h=358&crop=1 "IMG_8741[1]")
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park. 