Tag: rain

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United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

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““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

Rime Ice, as weather forecaster

For centuries, farmers have relied on their knowledge of the weather to ensure a successful harvest. Long before weather apps and TV meteorologists, farmers in many regions of the world had a unique way of predicting the weather: Rime Ice.

Rime Ice is a type of frost that forms on cold and humid days. It is a type of hoar frost, which is made up of tiny ice crystals that form on cold surfaces, like grass and trees, when there is fog or mist in the air.

On days when rime ice appears, farmers knew that six months later, they could expect plenty of rain. The signs of rime ice were used as a calendar by farmers to know when to plant their crops.

It was believed that if the rime ice was seen in the winter months, then there would be plenty of rain in the spring six months later. This allowed farmers to get their seeds in the ground at the right time, which was essential for a successful harvest. The tradition of using rime ice to predict the weather is still practiced in some regions of the world today. In Canada, for example, rime ice is still used by farmers to mark the calendar for the upcoming wet season. In the United States, rime ice is still seen during the winter months, though it is not used to predict the weather.

Rime Ice is a fascinating example of how people have used nature to predict the weather for centuries. Its use as a weather-forecasting tool is a testament to the ingenuity and resourcefulness of our ancestors. It is a reminder of how closely intertwined humans are with the natural world, and how important it is to pay attention to the signs that nature gives us.

Test this theory out for yourself. We have had several weeks lately of fog and hoar frost. Mark your calendars for six months from now and see what is the weather forecast. After six years of drought, a larger snow fall this winter, it will be interesting to see what spring has in store, and if, in six months time, there will be a large amount of rain.

Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) This is the brightly colored male. The female of the species will use the cattails, reeds or rushes standing above the surface of the water to weave a nest, and lay 2-5 eggs.

Please email friendsafforestation@gmail.com for clarification or for further details

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park
For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
For more information:
Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits
NEW P4G District Official Community Plan
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
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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

Weather Prediction

As the seasons change, so do our methods of predicting the weather.

But one forecasting tale has endured the test of time – the tale of rime ice.

For centuries, farmers across the globe have used the occurrence of rime ice to plan their planting and harvesting schedules. Rime ice forms on cold, winter days when temperatures drop below freezing. The formation of this majestic frost is usually accompanied with fog or mist, and can be seen coating trees, fences, and other outdoor structures. When the temperature drops below freezing, the fog turns to ice, creating a thin layer of crystalline frost.

Though seemingly insignificant, the formation of rime ice is actually a vital sign for farmers and gardeners. The occurrence of this frosty phenomenon is an indicator that the coldest days of winter have passed, and that a very wet spring will soon follow. When the first signs of rime ice appear, farmers know that in six months there will be plenty of rain for their crops.

This ancient weather forecasting tale has been a reliable indicator for centuries, and is still used today by many farmers and gardeners. So, if you’re a gardener or farmer, mark your calendars on days of rime ice, and know that in six months there will be plenty of rain. This ancient weather forecasting tale is a reliable indicator that a very wet spring is on the way.

Mark your calendars and see what will happen in six months from our weeks of rime ice we have had in January. After six years of drought, this is a great weather forecasting tale to look forward to.

Canada Geese West Swale Wetlands. Chappell Marsh. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, SK, CA

Please email friendsafforestation@gmail.com for clarification or for further details

Trees Need Not Walk the Earth

Trees Need Not Walk the Earth, and, yet we as humans do, and partake of the beauty of the tree.

Take your pants for a walk day July 27, what a fantastic idea! A great way to get outside, and get some exercise after being cooped up with COVID protocols for so long.

Enjoy the afforestation areas, and have a great time.

Trees Need Not Walk the Earth

David Rosenthal

Trees need not walk the earth  
For beauty or for bread;  
Beauty will come to them  
Where they stand.  
Here among the children of the sap
Is no pride of ancestry:  
A birch may wear no less the morning  
Than an oak.  
Here are no heirlooms  
Save those of loveliness, 
In which each tree  
Is kingly in its heritage of grace.  
Here is but beauty’s wisdom  
In which all trees are wise.  
Trees need not walk the earth 
For beauty or for bread;  
Beauty will come to them  
In the rainbow—  
The sunlight—  
And the lilac-haunted rain;
And bread will come to them  
As beauty came:  
In the rainbow—  
In the sunlight—  
In the rain.

Take your pants for a walk day! Richard St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Take your pants for a walk day! Richard St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

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 using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Donate your vehicle to Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. to raise funds for afforestation areas. Click here to find out more. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date! Canada Helps

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 environment is where we all meet; where we all have a mutual interest; it is the one thing all of us share.
Lady Bird Johnson

Petrichor, where have you been?

“I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.”
― e.e. cummings

Petrichor in the forest, after the rain, what do you smell?

Dipping and diving into Petrichor Mallard Ducklings

Chappell Marsh West Swale Wetlands

Trembling Aspen Leaf with dew drops, Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA

Petrichor

i have to write

i have to relate the delight

the rain

have you been there in the rain,

when it is a misty rain, a heavy fog, barely getting wet,

have you been there right after the rain,

the grass slowly melting and dissolving into wet shoes,

the nose awake. Erigir, erigir, erigir.

Have you become aware

do you know Petrichor

as well as I love Petrichor?

Are you there, fully aware of the totality

of the Pedogenesis which is occuring?

it is so very delightful and enriching,

and one may even say invigorating as well.

have you traveled around and taken the time

perhaps to compare the dark of the dark gray Chernozemic soil

laying beneath the grasslands with the

rich gray Luvosolic and Brunisolic soils which form

the rich forest floor? these are perhaps my favourite.

but there is no denying that Regosolic, Gleysolic, and Vertisolic soils

are so unique and ever divergent

Or perhaps, you prefer those Solonetzic soils, where the

remnants of the prairies rich in potash from seas of bygone eras

decorate the landscape in salty white tough crusts.

On the days where i bend down and get my knees wet

in addition to my shoes, i revel in the Organic soils, and

share my time with sedges and mosses that is a time when

time stands still and you realize you are not alone,

its a time of magic when from nowhere

the mushrooms spring up in the depths

between the tree roots.

Humus embiggens, rain enriches.

Oh Petrichor, oh Petrichor, how i miss you in the winter months

And now, Phenology, be blessed, you have returned again!

Oh! over spring, summer, and autumn, and how you vary

and which is best, nay I cannot say

but thank goodness you have returned, you were truly missed

hello again Petrichor, don’t stay away so long.

Oh best beloved reader, do say, what are you connected to?

Do you also know Petrichor?

nature pine raindrops drops of water

They recognize that while knowledge about nature is vital; passion is the long-distance fuel for the struggle to save what is left of our natural heritage and ~ through an emerging green urbanism ~ to reconstitute lost land and water. Passion does not arrive on videotape or on a CD; passion is personal. Passion is lifted from the earth itself by the muddy hands of the young; it travels along grass-stained sleeves to the heart. If we are going to save environmentalism and the environment, we must also save an endangered indicator species: the child in nature. ^{Louv. 2005. p. 158}

“The great biologist E.O. Wilson has said…”the question I am asked most frequently about the diversity of life [is]: if enough species are extinguished, will the ecosystems collapse, and will the extinction of most other species follow soon afterward? The only answer anyone can give is, possibly. By the time we find out, however, it might be too late. One planet, one experiment.” Sarah James and Torbjörn Lahti

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

Bibliography.

James, Sarah and Torbjörn Lahti. The Natural Step for Communities. How Cities and Towns can change to sustainable practices. ISBN 0-86571-491-6. New Society Publishers. Gabriola Island, B.C. 2004.

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

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

For more information:

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

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

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

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

You Tube Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

You Tube George Genereux Urban Regional Park

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!

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Payment Options

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

1./ Learn.

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

“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

…”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

The most fundamental human needs

Why do we need afforestation areas?

“Next to air, without which we would not survive for more than a few minutes, water is the most fundamental human need. Yet today, billions of people do not have access to safe, potable water….In addition to having potable water categorized as a human right, and directing national and international resources to guarantee this right for everyone, the Earth Charter asks us to manage the use of renewable resources such as water, soil, forest products, and marine life in ways that do not exceed rates of regeneration and that protect the health of ecosystems. Water is a renewable resource, if we treat it well.” Gwendolyn Hallsmith

Rime Ice at George Genereux Urban Regional Park, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. NE 21-36-6 W 3 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 NE 21-36-6

Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Sunlight on the Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens) saplings

A bit of fog and hoar frost in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Fresh Snow on the Boughs

Siberian Elm Fruit Seed Ulmus pumila samaras Photo credit Luis Fernández García L. Fdez. cc-by-sa-2.1 Ulmus-pumila-samaras

“Of the earth’s thirty billion acres, already nine billion acres are desert. And if a man loses a third of his skin, he dies; plastic surgeons say “He’s had it.” And if a tree loses one-third of its bark, it dies. And if the earth loses one-third of its green mantle of trees, it will die. The water table will sink beyond recall and life on this planet will become impossible. ” Richard St. Barbe Baker

“What you people call your natural resources, our people call our relatives” ~ Orien Lyons, faith keeper of the Onondaga.

“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 is the “Skin” of the earth, for without it there can be no water and, therefore, no life.” ~Richard St. Barbe Baker

What is it that trees provide? Trees convert CO2 to oxygen, the air we breathe. “Next to air, without which we would not survive for more than a few minutes, water is the most fundamental human need. ” ~Gwendolyn Hallsmith

“When the trees go, the rain goes, the climate deteriorates, the water table sinks, the land erodes and desert conditions soon appear”.~Richard St. Barbe Baker

Trees act as carbon sinks, taking our greenhouse gas emissions from the air, and provide us with oxygen, the imperative need for human survival. Not only that, trees provide as with water, as Richard St. Barbe Baker explains. “Next to air, without which we would not survive for more than a few minutes, water is the most fundamental human need. ” ~Gwendolyn Hallsmith

“Mother Earth is a source of life, not a resource.” – Chief Arvol Looking Horse

Bibliography

Hallsmith, Gwendolyn. The key to Sustainable Cities. Meeting Human Needs Transforming Community Systems. ISBN 0-86571-499-1. New Society Publishers. Gabriola Island. 2003.

James, Sarah and Torbjörn Lahti. The Natural Step for Communities. How Cities and Towns can change to sustainable practices. ISBN 0-86571-491-6. New Society Publishers. Gabriola Island, B.C. 2004.

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

For more information:

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

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

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

You Tube Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

You Tube George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)

Payment Options

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

1./ Learn.

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

“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.

“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 Afforestation Area

Herptology; What is a herptologist?

What a question in the middle of winter, however as spring approaches ~ “Where are the frogs?” is a most excellent query!!!

“Stewards of Saskatchewan” is a voluntary program of the provincial group Nature Saskatchewan. With this program, volunteer stewards collectively monitor population data on various at risk species. One of these is the Northern Leopard Frog, (Lithobates pipiens or Rana pipiens) designated as Special Concern in Canada.

Please report to the Stewards of Saskatchewan SOS survey, if you sight one of the species on their list. Did you know that April is Frog month? Celebrate Frog Month with your family! Find out how to become an amateur herpetologist this April!

Where might be one of the places in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area where a Northern Leopard Frog could be sighted?

The Chappell Marsh, the permanent wetlands of the West Swale contain water all the time. But where are the temporary wetlands located? This is exactly where the frogs are singing their merry songs. This area for the lands east of Chappell Marsh in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is marked as a yellow oval on the attached map. The Northern Leopard Frog, sings just to the west of the southwest off leash recreation area.

FrogMap — Northern Leopard Frog, Rana Pipiens Map

Just as farmers watch the weather; “In dry years, arable agriculture can fail over large parts of the province, whilst in wet years, flooding has caused widespread damage to rural and urban infrastructure.” “(Pomeroy, 2005)

So, too, do the frogs seem to watch the weather. During dry years such as those experienced 2015, 2016, and 2017 there were no frogs heard at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. However in 2013 and 2014 frogs were a delight to the years, especially as the Northern Leopard Frog is a species of Special Concern. As the weather cycles in the province, it can be expected that another year of flooding may follow the very dry years experienced 2015, 2016, and 2017. The newspapers report the flooding damaging crops, basements and highways however the glorious thing which is missed on the years of high water tables, is that the frogs come back!

Rana_pipiens Northern Leopard Frog

Northern Leopard Frog

Chappell Marsh. West Swale Wetlands. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA

There are definitely other areas, such as where the old grid road is being swallowed up by Chappell Marsh near the road turn off to Chappell Marsh Conservation Area. The old grid road is partially submerged, making it the perfect habitat for frogs [and ducks] as well.

Now then, it would be a very intriguing for a herpetologist, volunteer ‘Steward of Saskatchewan’ or conservation officer to engage in a project to walk with a GPS app which records altitude. This project would scan the entirety of the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and ‘George Genereux’ Urban Regional park for altitude levels similar to the altitude of the meadow west of the South West Off Leash Recreation Area. Other areas which provide a rich habitat for the Northern Leopard Frog could be identified in this method for the areas west of Chappell Marsh and in ‘George Genereux’ Urban Regional park. In this way during years of flooding the Northern Leopard Frog could be surveyed and counted in identified Frog zones. And accordingly in the years of drought, the environment could remain undisturbed awaiting their safe return. 🙂

Perhaps, just perhaps, this would be a way to ensure the Northern Leopard Frog’s survival. An altitude test may just help to find the temporary wetlands conducive to the frog’s habitat, and could then be protected from development. Either that, or developers would need wait until years of high water tables before developing land to determine the habitat for frogs.

Saskatchewan cycles through years of drought and high water tables. The years 2013, and 2014, saw very, very high rain levels, spring run off and flooding. Chappell Marsh itself washed out a grid road, and water pumps were allocated to try to divert the flooding away from Saskatchewan Highway 7 west of the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, and CN Chappell Yards. The cycle of very wet conditions was also seen historically over the years 2005, and 2006. (Garnet, 2012)

July 13, 2014, Emily Chan reported “In Saskatchewan, it’s estimated that a total of up to 3 million acres, including some farmland, have already flooded.” “Highways closed and communities declared states of emergency …, ” reports the Canadian Press on June 30, 2014 due to a deluge of rain.

“From too much rain to not enough — and everyone baking in the heat — communities smashed weather records in July across Saskatchewan.”(Climenhaga, 2017) Whereas, in direct contrast to the years of 2013 and 2014, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada reported that 2016 was the hottest year on record, replacing the record set in 2015. In 2017, “Saskatchewan farmers say drought conditions in some parts of the province are the worst they have seen in decades “(Bridges, 2017) “Record-breaking temperatures and extremely low rainfalls across Western Canada are causing chaos for farmers and firefighters this summer as they grapple with the worst drought in more than a decade.” {Sikierska, 2015) Drought also ravaged Saskatchewan over the years 2001 to 2002. (Garnet, 2012)

“Nowhere else in Canada does the lack or excess of water cause such widespread concern, nor are there many Canadian environments subject to greater seasonal change in precipitation and surface-water storage.”(Pomeroy, 2005)

Drought years have been recorded as 1961, 1967, 1979, 1980, 1985, 1988, 2003, 2009. Whereas, the flood years are reported as 1965, 1977, 1986, 1991, 1993, 1999, 2005, 2010. (Garnet, 2012)

“The trees and vegetation which cover the land surface of the Earth and delight the eye, are therefore performing vital tasks incumbent upon the vegetable world in nature. The glorious rich, colourful, quilted covering of vegetation is not there merely to feed and please us. Its presence is essential to Earth as an organism. It is the first condition to Earth as an organism. It is the first condition of all life; it is the ‘skin of the Earth, for without it there can be no water and, therefore, no life. ” Richard St. Barbe Baker.

Bibliography

2016 Annual Report of Agroclimate Conditions Across Canada Government of Canada Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Bridges, Alicia. Sask. farmers say drought conditions worst in decades. Farmers, ranchers face tough season due to hot, dry weather. CBC News.

Chan, Emily. Prairie farmers frustrated as flooding drowns crops. Ctv News. July 13, 2014

Climenhaga, Christy. Regina experiences driest July in 130 years. July topped the charts for hot and dry weather in southern Saskatchewan. CBC News. Aug. 1, 2017

Cross, Brian. Rising waters wash away land, farmers’ futures . The Western Producer. May 7, 2015

Flooding, highway closures as heavy rain pounds Prairies Canadian Press. June 30, 2014.

Garnett, Ray and Madhav Khandekar. From Drought to Wet Cycles The Changing Climate of the Canadian Prairies. May 3, 2012.

Pomeroy, John, Dirk de Boer and Lawrence Martz. Hydrology and Water Resources of Saskatchewan. Centre for Hydrology Report #1. Department of Geography, University of Saskatchewan February 2005.

Reeve warns flood water could flow over Hwy 11 in Lumsden area CBC News. May 5, 2013

Saskatchewan flooding: 37 communities declare state of emergency CBC News. June 30 2014

Sask. Flooding >Flood-battered roads crumbling around eastern Sask. Culverts, bridges, train tracks washed out over a wide area CBC News. July 2, 2014

Siekierska, Alicja. Hot, dry and disastrous. Western Canada’s drought is taking a toll. Edmonton Journal. July 25, 2015

Top ten weather stories for 2010: Story three. From Dry to Drenched on the Prairies. Government of Canada. Environment and Climate Change Canada.

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

For more information:

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

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

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

Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)

Payment Options

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

1./ Learn.

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

“The simple act of planting a tree, which is in itself a practical deed, is also the symbol of a far reaching ideal, which is creative in the realm of the Spirit, and in turn reacts upon society, encouraging all to work for the future well being of humanity rather than for immediate gain. ” Richard St. Barbe Baker

“We forget that we owe our existence to the presence of Trees. As far as forest cover goes, we have never been in such a vulnerable position as we are today. The only answer is to plant more Trees – to Plant Trees for Our Lives.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker

A Fog so Thick

A bit of fog and hoar frost in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

As Richard St. Barbe Baker quoted Henry van Dyke, here is another forest poem excerpt by Henry van Dyke

“But the glory of trees is more than their gifts:
Tis a beautiful wonder of life that lifts,
From a wrinkled seed in an earth-bound clod,
A column, an arch in the temple of God,
A pillar of power, a dome of delight,
A shrine of song, and a joy of sight!
Their roots are the nurses of rivers in birth;
Their leaves are alive with the breath of the earth;
They shelter the dwellings of man; and they bend
O’er his grave with the look of a loving friend.” ~ Henry van Dyke

Just a bit of a variation on a theme regarding the fog and hoar frost at the afforestation area

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

For more information:

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

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

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

Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail / e-transfers )

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