A project which the Canadian Wildlife Federation WILD Group is underway. A COVID initiative featuring little trail messages introduces this youth group – young men and women between 14-17 who have come out to the afforestation area and walked along the trails.
Sadly some of the signs the teenagers have worked hard on all winter long have come down. The initiative was a part of a unique safe COVID project. If you see any of the signs down, please place them at the benches area east of the SW dog park and they will return to finish up their project – which will include an online component. Thank you so much for your help as the CWF initiative takes shape for the afforestation areas east of the SW OLRA.
A large afforestation area welcome goes out to a new group who loves the forest. The dog walkers, cyclists, wedding parties, dog photographers, astronomers, nature lovers are all welcoming people, and it is great that the teenagers are learning about the afforestation areas, and enjoying the trails and man-made woodlands created on the prairies.
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
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
Encouraging all to work for the future well being of humanity rather than for immediate gain
This summer, gather together your co-workers and come out for Canada’s Corporate Clean Up Week, July 8 – 15. The Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Clean Up takes place Saturday July 9, 2016, what better way for your work place to become involved with a conservation clean up project and make a huge difference to the shorelines.
Summer is a great time for taking part in community initiatives! The Richard St. Barbe Baker Clean up is a part of two amazing programs, Meewasin & Affinity Credit Union Clean-Up Campaign and Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, presented by Loblaw Companies Limited, to clean up, fix up and conserve our precious environment. Come out and clean up the naturalized forest, don’t have time to get away, then take a well most daily “Staycation” in the woods this summer.
If you have registered for the clean up, ask your co-worker to come along and join you. Come out and have a big impact on the wetlands.
Really, when there is a forest in the city, you do have seven days every week to enjoy and savour the outdoors! Come, clean up at the afforestation area, and then hike a trail and enjoy a job well done!
“Litter Litter, sadly, remains a grimy reality in too many communities. It’s an eyesore, harms our tourism industry, poses health risks, and affects water quality. Wildlife often mistake it as food…So we wish people wouldn’t litter and we didn’t have to organize clean-ups.
…We need to reduce our waste in the first place. As consumers, we need to be more aware of the products we buy – and the packaging they come in. We can eschew the plastic utensils. We can stop buying so much throw-away junk. We can share products.
…In a compostable nutshell, citizens just need to think more about our garbage – something we don’t always do.let’s start reducing litter by reducing the amount of trash we throw out. … Let us lend a hand to the thousands of volunteers out there picking up after ourselves.”source
Save the date this summer, here is a special clean up event that fits your schedule. Make a positive difference in your local environment, and improve the quality of life not only for your recreational activities but improve the quality of life for the natural wildlife in Saskatoon!
As Saskatoon grows to 1/2 million by the year 2023, let us help the wildlife also increase their population in the city by the year 2023 as well! Let us save a naturalized forest in the city, where our children and their children’s children can still see a squirrel or a deer in the city! How can you do this? Register the workers at your corporation for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Clean Up.
Muskrat West Swale Wetlands. Chappell Marsh. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA
Black Capped Chickadee West Swale 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
“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
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.
“We stand in awe and wonder at the beauty of a single tree. Tall and graceful it stands, yet robust and sinewy with spreading arms decked with foliage that changes through the seasons, hour by hour, moment by moment as shadows pass or sunshine dapples the leaves. How much more deeply are we moved as we begin to appreciate the combined operations of the assembly of trees we call a forest.”~Richard St. Barbe Baker
“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.
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park. 