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Greetings native prairie enthusiasts,
We know the past few months have been hard and the future is filled with uncertainties. As our social media feeds make us feel as though the world is burning down around us, we're hoping to bring you a bit of light-hearted distractions this month.
One of our favourite weeks here at PCAP,
Native Prairie Appreciation Week
is June 14th - 20th! For me, native prairie signifies resilience, and although NPAW won't make the hardships go away or bring on world peace or even just normalcy, connecting with nature often helps you feel better.
Our NPAW plans will be different than in past years, because of the social distancing guidelines.
The tour, that was supposed to be held in conjunction with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture and the Society for Range Management, was cancelled. Instead, we have a week of webinars planned to appreciate native prairie and provide some training for those who are interested. I know sitting in front of your computer is probably the last thing you want to do, but we're hoping the webinars will inspire you to safely head outside and spend some time in native prairie and maybe even practice some of the skills you've learned. There is more information below and on on our
NPAW webpage
.
We also had the Youth Poster Contest and will be announcing the winners during NPAW and we will also have the social media
Native Prairie Photo Contest again this year!
So send in your photos!
The next Native Prairie Speaker Series webinar will be June 22nd, where Dr. Ryan Brook will be discussing tracking the spread of wild pigs. Register here. Ryan's presentation will be recorded and available on our YouTube Channel. You can also register for the July webinar about Identifying the Big Weeds, by Melanie Toppi of the Frenchman Wood River Weed Management
And finally, we would like to thank our sponsors for their generous support : Camp Wolf Willow, EcoFriendly Sask, K+S Potash, Pembina Pipelines, Ranchers Stewardship Alliance, Saskatchewan Cattlemen's Association, SaskEnergy, SaskWater, Wildlife Habitat Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada, as well as the continuous support of all the PCAP's
Partners
.
Have a wonderful month everyone! Stay safe and healthy!
Cheers to Native Prairie Appreciation Week!
Carolyn Gaudet, SK PCAP Manager
Ph. 306 352 0472
pcap@sasktel.net
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Join SK PCAP in Celebrating Native Prairie Appreciation Week, June 14-20, 2020!
Since 1999, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Environment have jointly proclaimed the third week in June as Saskatchewan's Native Prairie Ap
preciation Week! Saskatchewan is the only place in North America with a dedicated week for native prairie grassland appreciation!
We are not having a tour in 2020 with the Society for Range Management - Prairie Parkland Chapter due to the social distancing. So the NPAW planning committee decided that a series of webinars might be able to capture the essence of the NPAW tour and provide training opportunities.
June 17th at 3 PM CST -
Mapping Native and Tame in the Mixed Grassland Ecoregion using Machine Learning and Big Remote Sensing Data by Nasem Badreldin, SK MOE.
Register here.
PCAP is also pleased to announce that the Cities of Regina, Saskatoon, Weyburn, Moose Jaw and Swift Current have also proclaimed June 14-20, 2020 as NPAW in their urban jurisdictions! Thank you!!!
Let's get social! We will be having a #NPAW20 social media campaign that you can enjoy and share! Make sure to share, post, tweet, or 'gram your own favourite native prairie facts using the #NPAW20 hashtag!
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Photo Contest details
here
! Make sure to vote for your favourites, June 15-19 on our Facebook page!
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Upcoming Events!
Society for Range Management - Prairie Parkland Chapter AGM
June 18th, 2020
Nature Saskatchewan AGM
June 22nd, 2020
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PCAP Partner Spotlight...
Society for Range Management - Prairie Parkland Chapter
Submitted by Cassandr
a Schroeder, on behalf of the SRM- Prairie Parkland Chapter Board
The Prairie Parkland Chapter (PPC) of the Society for Range Management (SRM) provides leadership for the stewardship of rangelands (including native prairie) in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. We offer opportunities for the exchange of information among interested individuals, promote professional development and assist the SRM parent society to achieve its objectives. Society for Range Management is the professional scientific society and conservation organization whose members are concerned with studying, conserving, managing and sustaining the varied resources of the rangelands. SRM members are diverse, but include land managers, scientists, educators, students, producers and conservationists.
We normally have a field day each spring or summer. This year we are working with PCAP to design a COVID-friendly virtual "field day" in the form of a series of webinars for Native Prairie Appreciation Week. Last year we held Back to the Field in Grasslands National Park, where we discussed range health and species at risk. In February, we worked with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture to bring Celebrating Rural Ranching Women to Moose Jaw.
The PPC supports the University of Saskatchewan range team to compete at the international competition held by the SRM parent society. This year the team placed 2nd among universities and colleges across North America on a rangeland management principles exam, and had the highest scoring individual. PPC also established the Alicia Hargrave Memorial Scholarship which is awarded to a U of S student with an interest in rangeland resources.
This year we will be having our Annual General Meeting via GoToMeeting on June 18th. All current members will receive an email at the beginning of June with all the meeting details. Please ensure that your membership is current so that you receive the invite. Visit
https://rangelands.org/ for membership information or to learn more about the Society for Range Management.
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Native Prairie in the News
Conservation organizations call for support for beef producers during pandemic
In April, Ducks Unlimited Canada, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, and Birds Canada sent a letter to the Federal Government to express their concern about the impacts of COVID-19 on beef farmers and ranchers and the very real threat this poses to the country's grasslands, wetlands and other ecosystems. Actions that impact ranchers, grasslands and wildlife go hand-in-hand.
Some of the most important habitats remaining are managed and conserved by beef producers. As we know nothing is more detrimental to the preservation of one of Canada's most at-risk ecosystems, native grasslands, than for the beef industry to relive hard economic times.
We saw how the BSE crisis led to a rapid and disconcerting acceleration in the loss of our prairie grasslands, wetlands and other critical habitats. Without ranching to provide a sustainable and profitable means of preserving these intact landscapes, they were rapidly converted to other uses, especially to annual crop production. Consequently, Canada lost 26,917 ranching operations between 2001-2011 and with them 5,000,000 acres of grasslands.
An article on this news is featured in the Canadian Cattlemen click
here.
And a few other articles that you might find interesting:
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Online resources -incase you still need them :)
Explore.org -
bison cam at Grasslands National Park
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SK PCAP Native Prairie Speaker Series
Plan to attend our June Native Prairie Speaker Series webinar!
Save the date!
Identifying the Big Weeds
Presenter: Melanie Toppi,
Frenchman Wood River Weed Management Area/SODCAP
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Native Prairie Appreciation Week Webinars
Click on the photos for more information
June 16th - Grassland and Forested Range Health Assessment Training
June 17th at 12 CST - Riparian Range Health Assessment Training
June 17th at 3 PM CST -
SK MOE's Prairie Landscape Inventory Project
Register here.
June 18th - Webinar by Candace Savage, awar
d-winning author
June 19th - Plant ID presentation and quiz
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2020 Speaker Series
Supporting Sponsors
Camp Wolf Willow
Ranchers Stewardship Alliance Inc.
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2020 Education Programs:
Presenting Sponsors:
01
2020 Education Programs
Supporting Sponsors:
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Carolyn Gaudet, Editor, Saskatchewan Prairie Conservation Action Plan Newsletter
306-352-0472 |
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SK PCAP gratefully acknowledges financial support in 2020-2021 from:
Camp Wolf Willow, Ducks Unlimited Canada, EcoFriendlySask.ca, K+S Potash, Parks Canada - Grasslands National Park of Canada, Pembina Pipelines, Ranchers Stewardship Alliance Inc., Saskatchewan Cattlemen's Association,
Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment - Fish and Wildlife Development Fund,
SaskEnergy,
SaskPower, SaskWater, University of Saskatchewan - College of Agriculture and Bioresources, Water Security Agency and Wildlife Habitat Canada.
SK PCAP gratefully acknowledges in-kind support for 2020-21 from:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada - Science and Technology Branch, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Association, Canadian Western Agribition, Environment Canada - Canadian Wildlife Service,
Friends of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, Friends of Wascana Marsh, Meewasin Valley Authority, Native Plant Society of Saskatchewan, Nature Conservancy Canada, Nature Saskatchewan, Parks Canada - Grasslands National Park, Prairie Wind & Silver Sage, Ranchers Stewardship Alliance Inc., Redberry Lake Biosphere Reserve, Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, Saskatchewan Association of Watersheds, Saskatchewan Bison Association, Saskatchewan Burrowing Owl Interpretive Centre, Saskatchewan Cattlemen's Association, Saskatchewan Environmental Society, Saskatchewan Forage Council, Saskatchewan Forage Industry Network, Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment, Saskatchewan Ministry of Energy and Resources, Saskatchewan Science Centre, Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association, Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation, Saskatoon Nature Society, SaskEnergy, SaskOutdoors, SaskPower, Society for Range Management - Prairie Parkland Chapter, South of the Divide Conservation Action Program Inc., University of Regina, University of Saskatchewan - College of Agriculture and Bioresources, Wild About Saskatoon-Nature City Festival.
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