This World Health Day April 7 remember the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 15, and how many benefits we derive from trees and forests for our physical and mental health! Check out some of our amazing ways we are celebrating World Health Day!
Exposure to forests enhances our immune system and increases our natural killer cells.
Come out to the afforestation areas during the City Nature Challenge April 29-May 2 and take action for global biodiversity. Download the iNaturalist app and start practising taking photos of nature today!
Renew, and rejuvenate, recharge your batteries by connecting with nature
Let your children play and connect with nature also!
“Love is where attentiveness to nature starts, and responsibility towards one’s home landscape is where it leads.” – John Elder (1998)
City Nature Challenge CNCYXE Saskatoon area versus YQRCNC Regina and area in a mini SK challengeCity Nature Challenge CNCYXE Saskatoon area versus YQRCNC Regina and area in a mini SK challengeChild running through the forest having a great time connecting with nature City nature Challenge April 29 – May 2 City nature Challenge April 29 – May 2
So, cattails and you, and why all parts of the cattail plant are amazing for a wild spring, summer or fall harvest. “The shoots or hearts, also known as “Cossack asparagaus,” are best harvested in spring or early summer, prior to the devlopment of the flower stalk” source So after harvesting the shoots, just rinse, soak in vinegar for 15-20 minutes and then rinse. <a href="http://<!– wp:paragraph –> <p>So, cattails and you, and why all parts of the cattail plant are amazing for a wild spring, summer or fall harvest. "The shoots or hearts, also known as "Cossack asparagaus," are best harvested in spring or early summer, prior to the devlopment of the flower stalk"<a href="https://wildfoodgirl.com/2013/cold-hearted-cattail-salads/"> source</a> So after harvesting the shoots, just rinse, soak in vinegar for 15-20 minutes and then rinse. </p> Cold Cattail and Tomato Salad is a great way to start out enjoying your Cattail harvest.
Remember to harvest your cattails alone, and without your puppy dog with you, as spring is nesting time for many waterfowl and animals. Humans are not the only animals who forage on cattails. “Wherever there are cattails, there’s food. The seeds, roots and shoots attract plant-eating animals, and predators that eat the cattail’s visitors. Ducks and Canada geese sometimes eat the tiny seeds, and geese dine on the plant’s new shoots and underwater roots…. Muskrats gnaw on the roots, and use the leaves to build a shelter, called a lodge, to keep themselves safe. It’s common to see red-winged blackbirds hanging around cattails. After the male finds a mate the birds use plants including cattail leaves to build their nest.” source
As you embark on the Cold Cattail and Tomato Salad, consider the nutritional benefits from Cattails, such as Manganese, Vitamin K, Magnesium, Iron, Vitamin B6 and Sodium. According to Health Benefits of Cattail, Uses And Its Side Effects, Cattails, help with mitigation of Anaemia, preventing cancer, controlling hypertension, reducing atherosclerosis risks, controlling diabetes, and is also a natural antiseptic.
Nature is the source of human subsistence but the transformation of nature into food is a cultural process that is not independent of power relations. The colonization of America comprised the systematic repression of indigenous ways of knowing and even after the elimination of political colonialism the relationship between European cultures and the others is still one of colonial domination. The colonial repression of different knowledges also affects the culinary epistemology that informs food preparation and consumption.
Muskrat West Swale Wetlands. Chappell Marsh. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA
Chappell Marsh. West Swale Wetlands. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA
Red Winged Blackbird. Chappell Marsh. West Swale Wetlands. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA
Canada Geese West Swale Wetlands. Chappell Marsh. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, SK, CA
Drawing a Cattail Plant emerging from the Chappell Marsh Wetlands in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Always be careful about safety when around water . So today, is another momentous day to celebrate Tourism Week In Canada. Pop out for a visit to the afforestation areas, enjoy the delightful spring weather, and enjoy this man-made forest on the prairies.
Send in a comment on how you succeed with your foraging adventure! Stay tuned throughout tourism week for more Cattail recipes for your outdoor foraging foray.
“All of these things are food for insects, for birds, for bears, deer, elk and moose, and if we compromise that by our foraging … it won’t be long before these things are no longer here,” … Julie Walker recommends people plant some of these species in their backyard gardens — or at least stop the war on weeds and let and nature take its course. Many native species have qualities that can benefit a home garden, like requiring little to no maintenance and being drought-resistant, she added. People can also forage on public lands, as long as they learn to recognize healthy populations of wild plant species.
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! Canada Helps
Today, the Sunday of the long weekend of May marks the beginning of Tourism Week across Canada! We agree with the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC), that “We encourage all Canadians this #TourismWeek, to take the pledge, and when you are able, plan and travel in Canada this year!“
To that point, we encourage you to have a “staycation” at Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area or George Genereux Urban Regional Park in Saskatoon! In 326 acres, and 147.8 acres, there is lots of room to socially distance, and enjoy the mixed woodlands, meadows, wetlands and wildlife.
C
For an activity, this spring, the spikes or stems are amazing to eat, as are the roots, and the pollen-covered cattails heads are also wonderful. Off the Grid News recommends that after harvesting your cattails, to rinse, them at home, and then soak in vinegar for 10-15 minutes, and then rinse again. The little shoots make a delightful spring vegetable to eat with your favourite dip!
Don’t forget to try the Marinated Cattail Hearts recipe. Right now is the best time to forage for your cattail leaf hearts. You may want to wander out to the wetlands with a pair of rubber boots on for the best and tastiest morsels. This delicious Marinated Cattail Hearts recipe makes a divine relish that is very delicious.
Send us a comment on how you succeed with your foraging adventure! Stay tuned throughout tourism week for more Cattail recipes for your outdoor foraging foray. Remember to be safe around the water. Try to forage for your cattails without puppy dogs in tow as spring is when waterfowl are nesting. Pied-billed Grebes, for instance, “build floating nests of cattails, grasses and other vegetation…..look for Pied-billed Grebes on small, quiet ponds and marshes where thick vegetation grows out of the water.” Cornell University All About Birds.
Foraging for food is a little like a mythic quest. You may think you know what you want and expend a lot of energy and dogged determination making lists and plans for obtaining it — losing a lot of sleep and garnering no small amount of heartache along the way — only to find it shimmering elsewhere, like a golden chalice, just out of reach.
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! Canada Helps
““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
Earth was not built for six billion people all running around and being passionate about things. The world was built for about two million people foraging for roots and grubs.
Before the development of tourism, travel was conceived to be like study, and its fruits were considered to be the adornment of the mind and the formation of judgement.
Paul Fussell
Permanent wetlands in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area with cattails and emergent vegetation in the summer
Autumn picture of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas supported by the non profit group Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. Please join now, like, support, share.
Autumn picture of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas supported by the non profit group Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. Please join now, like, support, share.
Richard St. Barbe Baker AFforestation Area, Saskatoon, SK
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
Take the first step, the rest will follow. Book the ticket, apply for the job, send the email, jump into the water. The rest gets easier from there. – Abi
The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land G. K. Chesterton
Life, as the most ancient of all metaphors insists, is a journey; and the travel book, in its deceptive simulation of the journey’s fits and starts, rehearses life’s own fragmentation. More even than the novel, it embraces the contingency of things.” Jonathan Raban
Meewasin Valley Authority managed and City of Saskatoon owned
Please educate yourself about the seasons when deer – vehicle collisions occur – the peak months (Nov-Dec rut and May-July fawn rearing)
White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus)
White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
White-tail Deer
Mule Deer Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
The number of vehicles on Valley Road and Township Road 362A (Cedar Villa Road) has increased exponentially. There is a greenspace at Chappell Marsh Conservation Area, and right across the road is the forest at Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. It is wise to slow down; if a deer jumps out from between the trees of the forest to the farmers field, or to the conservation area, it is best to take precautions, and be safe. The number of deers killed on Valley Road and on Township Road 362A (Cedar Villa Road) is taking its toll on the animal population over the last few months, and can be disastrous for drivers.
“The human cost of vehicle collisions with wildlife is substantial. On average 387 people are injured and 4 killed in animal related collisions on Saskatchewan roads…The peak times for collisions are dawn and dusk. Yellow wildlife warning signs indicate areas of high risk. No matter the season or time of day, it’s important to watch for signs of wildlife and reduce your speed accordingly. Slowing down reduces the distance required to stop and decreases the force of impact in the event of a collision. ”
“Reduce Speed
Speed is one of the most common factors in vehicle collisions.
Speed:Reduces the drivers ability to steer away from objects in the roadway
Speed: Extends the distance required to stop
Speed: Increases the force of impact, in the event of a collision
With good road conditions, drivers tend to increase their speed. Some studies suggest that wildlife vehicle collisions occur more than expected on clear nights, on dry road conditions and on long straight stretches. Drivers may tend to be more cautious on curves or in poor weather“ Wildlife Collision Prevention Program.
“It happens so quickly. It’s just like somebody cutting you off or something like that,” Jordan Goodlad told CBC News in describing his encounter with a deer on the road… “You almost don’t realize it ’til it’s done.” CBC News
If we are willing to be still and open enough to listen, wilderness itself will teach us. Steven Harper
“If you’ve driven on North American roads, you’ve seen roadkill – animals that have been killed by passing traffic. At some time, you may have run over a small animal on the road. You may even have had the harrowing experience of striking a large animal. “ Canada Safety Council
“Roads attract wildlife because they provide a travel corridor, easy access to vegetation and in the winter, a source of salt. ..[Fish and Wildlife] Officers advise drivers to reduce their speed at night and around water or on tree-lined roads. Scan the road and ditches for animals and use high beams when possible; deer eyes glow when struck by light. “ Tim Evans.
“The fall/winter season is a busy time of year for wildlife. While we always recommend keeping an eye out, your chances of colliding with a wild animal increase from October to January. (In the spring, wildlife collisions also increase between May and June.)
Think it can’t happen to you? Check out the statistics:
Every 38 minutes in Canada, there’s 1 collision between a motor vehicle and a wild animal. 89% of collisions with wildlife happen on two-lane roads just outside cities and towns.
86% of wildlife collisions happen in on warm weather days.” SGI Canada 2017
“While a vehicular collision with a deer can be very costly and sometimes cause personal injury, a collision with a moose can have very dire consequences” says Darrell Crabbe. “That’s why we engage in this annual campaign. It is our hope that the message will save lives, both human and wildlife.” Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation
Please be careful out there! Save a deer, and protect yourself.
Grandfather,
Look at our brokenness.
We know that in all creation
Only the human family has strayed from the Sacred Way.
We know that we are the ones who are divided.
And we are the ones who must come back together,
To walk in the Sacred Way.
Grandfather,
O Sacred One,
Teach us love, compassion and honor
That we may heal the earth
And heal each other. Ojibway Prayer
I always thought of deer as solitary animals that weren’t very interesting. But my goodness, that was very wrong. The big eye-opener for me was that they’re social. They have family groups. Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
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
““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 future of the planet concerns all of us, and all of us should do what we can to protect it. ” Wangari Maathai.
“The science of forestry arose from the recognition of a universal need. It embodies the spirit of service to mankind in attempting to provide a means of supplying forever a necessity of life and, in addition, ministering to man’s aesthetic tastes and recreational interests. Besides, the spiritual side of human nature needs the refreshing inspiration which comes from trees and woodlands. If a nations saves its trees, the trees will save the nation. And nations as well as tribes may be brought together in this great movement, based on the ideal of beautifying the world by the cultivation of one of God’s loveliest creatures – the tree.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker.
The wetlands at Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area are shared with Chappell Marsh Conservation Area. The water body is in the West Swale and is called Chappell Marsh. On eBird there is the Chappell Marsh “Hot Spot” where birders record birds which are spotted on either side of Cedar Villa Road (Township Road 362A)
There are also folks recording on iNaturalist the biodiversity and birds which are found at Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional Park. All you have to do is download the smart phone app on your phone. Go out, and use the app to take pictures, and it will be your field guide to help in the identification! Take part in the iNaturalist Project: “The Social Distancing BioBlitz of 2020! Mar 17, 2020 – May 31, 2020”, or the project “Phenology Test”, or perhaps the “Observations from Isolation” project.
What else are you going to do during this era of social isolation? Come on out and have some fun!
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
Scaup
Blue-winged mallard
“I think the most important quality in a birdwatcher is a willingness to stand quietly and see what comes. Our everyday lives obscure a truth about existence – that at the heart of everything there lies a stillness and a light.”
― Lynn Thomson
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)
Creative expression, whether that means writing, dancing, bird-watching, or cooking, can give a person almost everything that he or she has been searching for: enlivenment, peace, meaning, and the incalculable wealth of time spent quietly in beauty. Anne Lamott
“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.” — Vincent Van Gogh
If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands. Douglas Adams
Caragana arborescens, the Siberian peashrub, Siberian pea-tree, or caragana blossom
American Robin., Turdus migratorius
Native Rose Bush blooming in June
Upcoming events during the Wild About Saskatoon NatureCity Festival have been officially postponed until spring 2021. After the public protocols around COVID-19 have been allayed, and society returns to normal, please record any plant or animal sightings on iNaturalist. In the meantime, stay well and healthy and follow protocols set by City of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Health and Health Canada in regards to the Coronavirus. Best wishes to you all.
Stay tuned for the new planned dates for these nature events after the Coronavirus threat passes.
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)
The trees and vegetation, which cover the land surface of the Earth and delight the eye, are performing vital tasks incumbent upon the vegetable world in nature. Its presence is essential to earth as an organism. It is the first condition of all life; it it the ‘skin’ of the earth, for without it there can be no water, and therefore, no life.~Richard St. Barbe Baker
It is not a farce.…”To be whole. To be complete. Wildness reminds us what it means to be human, what we are connected to rather than what we are separate from.” ~Terry Tempest Williams
March came in like a Lion! March 1 If March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb
“Lions believe that everyone shares their state of mind.” – Irish Proverb
“If you see the fangs of the lions, don’t think the lion is smiling.” – Arabic Proverb
And of course there is the good old weather proverb. March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. So here we are enjoying above freezing mild weather yesterday for the leap year day at the end of February and snow and gusting winds.
So yes, indeed the weather proverb reminds us that in the month of March it’s still winter, but by the end of the month we can look forward to spring and milder temperatures that stay.
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 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!
“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
What an excellent way to bring in the summer months.
Puppies. Puppy Day March 23.
Grooming the Trail, Packing the Path
Horned Grebe Podiceps Auritus breeding colours
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, West Swale Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
June 1, 2019 is a Saturday, and also commemorates International Trail Day which falls on the first Saturday of June.
By June the Winter season for the Winter Fatbike Trail Network is finished as all the snow has indeed melted. However, that being said, Jeff Hehn ambassador of the Fatlanders Fat Tire Brigade and other members of this group have created Fatbike winter trails in addition to the existing to the paths previously extant in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area.
Additionally, the city of Saskatoon has created the South West Off Leash Recreation Area, with trails to enjoy, and take your dog along on the trails.
The Saskatoon Nature Society did in fact include the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area in their 2016 new edition of the book. “Nature Viewing Sites in and around Saskatoon”. Members of the Nature society have been actively ringing (banding) birds in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area for a number of years, so keep your eyes open while out on the trails, and bring your binoculars and cameras.
Walking: the most ancient exercise and still the best modern exercise.
Carrie Latet
Participants in the trails day event at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, or at the Afforestation formerly known as George Genereux Urban Regional Park, are invited to post on facebook your photos while walking, bicycling, hiking, or bird-watching along the trail incorporating why you love urban forests in Saskatoon.
To show your appreciation for the afforestation area, while you are out on the trails, please bring along an extra plastic bag and volunteer to remove debris in the afforestation area, or remove trash in the parking lots or scoop some poop in the off leash area.
These are the ethics of “Leave no trace” to help preserve the afforestation area and its trails for the future generations, and for your families use tomorrow.
Take someone to the Richard St. Barbe Baker afforestation area who has never been to this “best kept secret” of Saskatoon or perhaps take your family out on a new trail which you have not explored yet.
“Hiking is a bit like life:
The journey only requires you to put one foot in front of the other…again and again and again.
And if you allow yourself the opportunity to be present throughout the entirety of the trek,
you will witness beauty every step of the way,
not just at the summit” ~Unknown
Take only photos and memories, Each leaf, flower, stone and berry is an integral part of the ecosystem in the afforestation area. If we were to remove items from the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area we are removing what may be food and shelter for the wildlife community.
Leave only footprints along the paths. Animals and wildlife subsist better on food from the wild. Trash can cause distress and harm to the animals and vegetation and wetlands in the area. Human food and human garbage can make animals sick. This is a wetlands area, trash can also make humans sick as the West Swale drains into the South Saskatchewan River.
Walk on a rainbow trail; walk on a trail of song, and all about you will be beauty. There is a way out of every dark mist, over a rainbow trail. Robert Motherwell
Explore the afforestation area with respect. Extend your adventure on the trails of the park to preserve the ecological system. Walking off path disturbs the vegetation of the understory and affects the water drainage of the site. There are still wild animals in the afforestation area, and as the city grows, it would be amazing if it would stay that way for future generations to enjoy as well.
Sustainable trails and trail signage preserve the wildlife habitat, prevent erosion, conserve the forest understory, and provide a conservation friendly direction for the eco-footprint caused by an increase in users
With a growing awareness of the afforestation area, a proper trail network establishing proper and appropriate paths mitigates damage to wildlife habitat and ensures long term preservation practices while allowing increasing numbers of user to appreciate the full scenic beauty of the afforestation area. Well planned sustainable trails mitigate soil movement and erosion, require minimal long term maintenance, while allowing vegetation and wildlife to inhabit the area.
Eliminating illegal use of motorized vehicles in the afforestation area and the wetlands will eliminate unprecedented erosion, ecological and habitat damage. Taking responsibility and accountability for the environment will increase public appreciation for a picturesque urban forest by walkers, bicycle riders, educational classes, naturalists, bird watchers, and a number of other users on properly planned and designed pathways to mitigate the ecosystem footprint.
Remember next year’s International Trails Day is June 6, 2020.
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map
Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)
Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!
“St. Barbe’s unique capacity to pass on his enthusiasm to others. . . Many foresters all over the world found their vocations as a result of hearing ‘The Man of the Trees’ speak. I certainly did, but his impact has been much wider than that. Through his global lecture tours, St. Barbe has made millions of people aware of the importance of trees and forests to our planet.” Allan Grainger
“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.
“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
![IMG_8741[1]](https://stbarbebaker.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/img_87411.jpg?w=358&h=358&crop=1 "IMG_8741[1]")
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park. 