September 2024 | Volume 16 Issue 9

Happy September, folks! I hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend! I was able to spend it in the Cypress Hills area with some great friends.

In case you missed last month's announcement, the 11th Native Prairie Restoration/ Reclamation Workshop, in conjunction with the Prairie Fire Summit 2025, will be occurring in Regina, February 11-13, 2025.

The NPRRW Call for Abstracts is open and links can be found here. Registration will open in October. Similar to past NPRRW events, there will be plenaries, break-out sessions, case studies, a tradeshow, poster session and banquet. The Canadian Prairies Prescribed Fire Exchange will be hosting a one-day workshop on February 11th. Stay tuned for more information.



We're also planning the next Transboundary Grassland Partnership Workshop in Shelby, Montana in October. Stay tuned for more details about that as well!

The September Native Prairie Speaker Series presentation will be about bird-building collisions by Michael Mesure. You can register here. The recording will be available within a few days of the live event on our YouTube Channel.

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, 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

Birds Canada | Prairie Conservation Incentives Guide 2024

Birds Canada has completed their 2024 update of the Prairie Conservation Incentives Guide. This guide outlines over 30 conservation and stewardship programs that pertain to grasslands, wetlands, riparian areas and croplands across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. This guide aims to connect producers, landowners, conservation organizations, government extension, etc. with the available programs that will help achieve their conservation goals.

This guide will be updated annually and with the next update scheduled for March of 2025. If you are aware of any programs or organizations that were missed in this version and should be included in the March 2025 update, please reach out to Birds Canada directly. The guide can be found here and for more information on Birds Canada's work on the Canadian Prairies, please visit here. 

The SK and MB Native Seed Collaborative is a new initiative formed by a diverse group of native seed producers and users. The group meets 3 to 4 times per year and shares information related to all aspects of prairie restoration including such things as existing seed supply and demand, effective seed collection, cleaning, and storage. The goal of the collaborative is to increase the availability of locally adapted native plant seeds, through contracts, shared resources, and potentially seed exchanges. The hope is that members will eventually be able to share seed collection and cleaning equipment, storage facilities, experiences, and knowledge to ensure quality seed is not a limiting factor for restoration activities in the two provinces. If you or someone from your organization would like to participate in the discussions, please reach out to: prairieseedcollaborative@gmail.com

Partner Spotlight

Meewasin Valley Authority

Meewasin Valley Authority is the managing partner of the Canadian Prairies Prescribed Fire Exchange (CPPFE), with funding from The Weston Family Foundation’s Prairie Grassland Initiative. The CPPFE is an inter-agency collective established to increase capacity for knowledge sharing and training surrounding the use of prescribed fire as a management tool in Canadian prairie and parkland ecosystems. The CPPFE does not conduct prescribed fires, but instead provides learning and training opportunities, facilitates equipment and resource sharing, and acts as a hub for current fire science and grassland fire knowledge. CPPFE help fire practitioners of all backgrounds, from landowners, to communities, to conservation groups and even experienced firefighters. More information can be found at www.grasslandfire.ca

The 2024 Canadian Prairies Prescribed Fire Training Exchange (TREX) is occurring October 21-25, 2024. The training and prescribed fire exercises will take place at various sites throughout the Saskatoon region in Saskatchewan. Apply here:  2024 CP TREX Application Form (Application window closes September 9, 2024).  

This program is designed to bring together a diverse group of fire practitioners, including land managers, volunteer fire departments, university students, municipal, provincial, and federal firefighters, as well as natural resource managers, scientists, and researchers. For more information on what a TREX is, here’s a video from our event in 2022: https://youtu.be/es1OhGo3WdI

Prescribed fire experience is not required, but all attendees are asked to complete the 15-hour online Introduction to Prescribed Fire course (or equivalent), prior to attending. The course costs $150 and is openly available through the USASK website. Course link: CPPFE 001- Introduction to Prescribed Fire in the Grassland Environment Course

The training at TREX is organized as an incident, using the Incident Command System. Participants will serve in trainee firefighting positions on a burn team and will assist with preparing, scouting, briefing, igniting, holding, mop-up, and patrol on numerous prescribed fires in the area, as the weather allows. We will also complete pre- and post-fire monitoring, train with various equipment, practice fireline leadership skills, and learn about local fire ecology and management.

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

A Bird's Eye View - Reflecting on Bird-Building Collisions

Speaker: Michael Mesure, FLAP Canada

Tuesday September 17th, 2024 at 12PM 

Register Free

More information

Save the Date!

Prairie Pastures: Grassland Vigour and Grazing Effects as Observed by Satellites, 2000 to 2023

Speakers: Dr. Michael Fitzsimmons, ECCC and Xiaolei (Stephen) Yu, U of S

October 30, 2024 12PM

Register Free

More details are on the way! 

South of the Divide Conservation Action Program Inc.'s AGM

Sept 9, 2024 @ 1:30 PM

Eastend, SK

Grassland Restoration Forum's How to Use Guides and Manuals for Project and Reclamation Planning

September 11, 2024

Brooks, AB

Nature Saskatchewan's Fall Meet

September 13-14, 2024

Regina, SK

10th Anniversary of the Buffalo Treaty

September 22-25, 2024

Transboundary Grasslands Partnership Workshop

October 22-24, 2024

Shelby, Montana

SER North American Conference

October 28-November 1

Vancouver, BC

Native Prairie Restoration/ Reclamation Workshop and the Fire Summit 2025

February 11-13, 2025

Regina, SK

For Educators

SK PCAP has two free education programs available.

See more info here!

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

2024/25 Education Programs:

Presenting Sponsors:

SK PCAP gratefully acknowledges financial support in 2024-2025 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, TC Energy, 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 2024-25 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 Aboriginal Land Technicians, 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.