January 2024 | Volume 16 Issue 1

Happy 2024!

I hope you all had a fantastic holiday season! I wanted to thank you grassland enthusiasts, for helping make PCAP's programs successful in 2023, we're looking forward to another great year of grassland conservation outreach and education.

The early bird deadline for the 10th Native Prairie Restoration/ Reclamation Workshop is January 17th at 5 PM. There's more information below, including the link about the Native Prairie Restoration/Reclamation Grant.

The December Native Prairie Speaker Series webinar was about monarchs and native plants with Emily Putz from Nature Saskatchewan. You can find the recording on our YouTube Channel.

Later this month, the Native Prairie Speaker Series will have three experts discuss burrowing owl monitoring and recovery in Alberta! You can register here.

And finally, we would like to thank our sponsors for their generous support: Canadian Forage and Grasslands Association, K+S Youth+Us, North American Helium, Nutrien, Saskatchewan Cattlemen's Association, SaskEnergy, SaskPower, SaskTel, SaskWater, Wildlife Habitat Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada, as well as the continuous support of all the PCAP Partners. 

Carolyn Gaudet, SK PCAP Manager 

pcap@sasktel.net

Register for the 2024 Native Prairie Restoration/Reclamation Workshop!

The 10th Native Prairie Restoration/Reclamation Workshop is back in person! The workshop will take place February 7-8, 2024 at the Saskatoon Inn and Conference Centre in Saskatoon, SK.

The theme is "Building Bridges to Tomorrow: Restoration and Reclamation For the Future"

You can check out the fantastic lineup of speakers here! In the next few weeks, the abstracts and speaker biographies will be available on the PheedLoop site. Make sure to check back around mid-January so that you can plan out which presentations you would like to attend!

Registration

Registration is open, you can register here!

Early-bird Registration (until January 17th) = $325 + (taxes + fees)

Regular Registration (after January 17th ) = $375 + (taxes + fees)

Students and landholders = $300 + (taxes + fees)

One day (Wednesday or Thursday) = $190 + (taxes + fees)

Pre-workshop Event: Planning a Prairie Prescribed Fire, occurring February 6th, 2024, 1 - 5 PM. $30/person. There's more information here. The Pre-workshop Event is filling up so register soon!



Native Prairie Restoration/Reclamation Grant contributes to an on-the-ground, small scale restoration project or a restoration-related research project. Deadline for applications is January 25th. More information can be found here.

Employment Opportunities

Ducks Unlimited Canada have a few jobs available on their website.

Saskatchewan Stock Growers Foundation is hiring a term Assistant Program Manager. Deadline for applications is January 28, 2024

Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society is looking for someone to fill a one-year term as Indigenous and Stakeholder Relations Coordinator.

For Educators

SK PCAP has two free education programs available.

See more information here!

SaskOutdoors has a number of PD and facilitator training courses available this month. You can check them out here.

Native Prairie in the News

Preserving grasslands is good for the planet, ranchers say — and they want to be paid for it

New conservation agreement in southern Alberta preserves endangered Prairie grasslands

Why reintroducing bison is revitalizing the Prairies and Indigenous culture, identity

Partner Spotlight:

Grasslands National Park

Submitted by Heather Facette, Resource Management Officer

Grasslands National Park is one of 37 national parks plus 10 national park reserves in Canada and the only one currently that was established for the protection and presentation of the mixed-grass prairie ecosystem. The park, which is divided into two blocks, can see up to 20,000 visitors annually, who are interested in learning more about prairie grasslands and hoping to catch a glimpse of some elusive prairie wildlife.

Many people may not know that for the past 26 years, this park has been restoring native plant communities to create wildlife habitat. As a national park with 33 species at risk, it has been a priority to preserve existing grasslands and to create new habitat from areas which have been previously cultivated and seeded to non-native plants.

To restore a field, it is first cultivated to remove unwanted vegetation and to deplete the existing seed bank. This creates a blank slate for our native seed mixes and gives them time to establish before other unwanted plants can move in. Staff spend lots of time each summer collecting seed to create a unique seed mix tailored to each project. When conditions are suitable the field is harrowed, seeded, and packed with a land roller.

Once that work is complete, nature takes over and success of these fields is dependant on the environmental conditions that come next. The only thing left to do is patiently wait for plants to grow and to monitor the seeded fields. Monitoring serves many purposes, it ensures we are visiting the seeded areas and managing weeds as needed, and it also allows us to learn what species and techniques work well in restoration. The most satisfying part of monitoring is detecting species at risk occupying the field, knowing that new habitat is available.

Two staff members monitor plants growing on a 22-year-old restoration field.

Stay tuned for news about our upcoming Native Prairie Speaker Series webinars!

A multi-agency collaboration on Burrowing Owl monitoring and recovery

Speakers: Troy Wellicome, Canadian Wildlife Service,

Stefano Liccioli, Alberta Environment and Protected Areas and

Graham Dixon-MacCallum, Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo

Thursday January 25 at 12 PM CT

Register here

More information

Please visit our Native Prairie Speaker Series webpage  regularly for upcoming topics, dates, and registration details.

Alberta Native Plant Council's webinar: Under Pressure: Threats to Alberta’s Native Plant Communities

January 16 @ 12 MST

Saskatchewan Beef Industry Conference

January 22-24, 2024

Regina, SK

SK Environmental Society's Sustainability Speaker Series

January 23, 2024 @ 7 PM

Saskatoon, SK

SK Chapter of the Wildlife Society's Conservation Expo and AGM

January 26-27, 2024

Saskatoon, SK

Grassland Restoration Forum webinar: Mycorrhizal fungi in natural and disturbed grasslands

January 30th @ 12 PM

SK Association of Watersheds' Annual Conference

January 30-31, 2024

Regina, SK

Native Plant Society of SK's Annual General Meeting and Conference

February 3-4, 2024

Regina, SK

Native Prairie Restoration/ Reclamation Workshop

February 7-8, 2024

Saskatoon, SK

SaskSoil's Soil Health Conference

February 13-14, 2024

Saskatoon, SK

SK Wildlife Federation's Annual Convention

February 15-17, 2024

Saskatoon, SK

2023/24 Education Programs:

Presenting Sponsors:

SK PCAP gratefully acknowledges financial support in 2023-2024 from:

Canadian Forage and Grassland Association, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, North American Helium, Nutrien, Parks Canada - Grasslands National Park of Canada, K+S youth+us, Saskatchewan Cattlemen's Association, Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment - Fish and Wildlife Development Fund, SaskEnergy, SaskPower, SaskTel, SaskWater, University of Regina, University of Saskatchewan - College of Agriculture and Bioresources, Water Security Agency and Wildlife Habitat Canada.

SK PCAP gratefully acknowledges in-kind support for 2023-24 from: 

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada - Science and Technology Branch, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Association, Environment Canada - Canadian Wildlife Service, Friends of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, 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 Region, 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 Ministry of Agriculture, Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment, Saskatchewan Ministry of Energy and Resources, Saskatchewan Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport, Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association, Saskatchewan Stock Growers Foundation, Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation, 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.