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Field
trip to Buffalo Pound Lake
Headed by the superintendent
of the park
To: Buffalo Pound
When: Saturday August 28, 2010 at 9:00 am
Meet at the Marsh by the
Boardwalk
We’ll see the bison
*Free park entry
for members
Non members attending $2.00 each
16 years of age and under are free
Lunch: at noon- Weiner roast at the fire pits
by the pool
Please RSVP to Dolly by
Thursday August
26, 2010
693-1851
JUNE 13, 2010 WINDUP - at Wood Acres 9am.
Tickets
for the pancake breakfast are $7.00 and can be purchased from Russ
McKnight - 692-3233. The breakfast will be preceeded by a nature
walk through Wakamow Valley at 8am. Meet at the Burger Cabin
parking lot. Ron Andrews is co-ordinating.
To purchase tickets for deluxe bird house contact Margaret Moran at
692-4464. The draw will be made at the windup June 13.
REPLACING BLUE BIRD BOXES AT BUFFALO POUND
LAKE. For information and participation contact Larry Going at
694-4168.
April 3, 2010, Jean Ann and Donna cleaned
one line of blue
bird boxes at Buffalo
Pound Lake. 10degrees, gentle
wind, some clouding.
Most boxes were full of twigs, some with
grass bottom topped
by twigs, 1 box had a dead fledgling in it......not identifiable. 3 had grass. Noted
2 Male and 1 Female
Mountain
Bluebirds.
Sightings during the day:
House Sparrow, Pigeon, Canada Geese, Snow Geese, Crow,
Mallard, Horned Lark, Ring Billed Gull, Magpie, Robin, Chipping
Sparrow, 2
Merlin, Harrier, Common Merganser, Muskrat sneaking up on Killdeer.
Picture is not great but is one of the Male
Mountain Bluebirds seen.
The
Wildlife
Rehabilitation Society of Saskatchewan (WRSOS) is holding a hotline
orientation in Regina
on April 17, 2010 from1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
At the orientation, you
will receive a presentation by Jamille Heer, member of the Board of
Directors for WRSOS, and Volunteer Coordinator. Jamille will
explain how the hotline works, how to handle certain calls and how to
respond to particular common incidents that are reported. You
will receive a manual to use a reference and the orientation is free!
Refreshments will be provided.
The orientation will be
held at the Core Ritchie Neighbourhood Centre, 445 14th Avenue, Regina.
Off street parking is available in the parking lot by the Centre.
Please confirm your
attendance by return email so we can be sure to bring enough manuals
and goodies!
Jan
Runnells
WRSOS Board Member,
Director Regina Area
Nature Moose Jaw –
Activities & Field Trips 2009
Thanks to George Holman for fixing our feeder in Wakamow, and to him
and Larry Going for regularly filling the feeder. Great job guys.
Contact and leader:
Kimberly
Epp, President and Field Trip Coordinator – cell: 681-7604, e-mail: kepp@shaw.ca,
For further
information on the club and upcoming programs and field trips, contact
please visit the Nature Moose Jaw
website at www.naturemoosejaw.ca
or
e-mail donna@naturemoosejaw.ca.
December
18th, has been chosen as the Christmas Bird Count
for Moose Jaw. We will
be joining Al Smith and Dan Sawatzky in their bird count area of
inner Moose Jaw after lunch at Nick's at noon. If you wish to do a
count of your home area alone, you can do so. Al Gurnsey and Mark
Vooght will be recording the birds (and beasts!) in their yards.
LETTER FROM LORNE
SCOTT
Things to Consider in Letters Supporting the
Retention
of Crown Lands
Issue:
Last fall the Government of
Saskatchewan announced a program to sell 1.6 million acres of Crown
land (an
area equal in size to PEI)
to current leasees at a price of up to 10% below market value.
While
lessees are not
required to purchase their leases they have been told in writing from
the
Government that they should know that it is the government’s intention
to see
saleable land in the hands of private ownership.
Saskatchewan residents recognize and appreciate the
important role
many landowners play in maintaining habitat on their privately owned
and leased
lands. However, Crown land that
currently has an ecological value on it should not be sold. These lands should remain protected and
cherished as a “Crown Jewel” for the future benefit of all Saskatchewan
residents.
A
significant amount of Crown
Ag land in Saskatchewan
contains habitat that is critical in preserving our native flora and
fauna.
The lack of concern being expressed
by Saskatchewan
residents to date regarding the sale of Crown owned land is being
interpreted
as support for the sales program.
Background:
There
are over 7 million
acres of Crown Agricultural leased land in Saskatchewan administered by the
Ministry of
Agriculture and almost all of these lands are in a native state.
About
3.4 million acres of
these lands are protected from cultivation and sale through the
Wildlife
Habitat Protection Act (WHPA). Both the
Ministers of Agriculture and Environment have publicly stated WHPA
lands are
not for sale.
However,
it is my
understanding that Agricultural officials have instructed the
Environment
Ministry to review the status of some 700,000 acres of WHPA lands to
determine
if they still meet WHPA criteria. Obviously,
if political pressure is used to remove public
lands from
WHPA, they can then be sold. This is of
grave concern.
Of
the lands not protected by
WHPA 3.5 million acres of Crown land is leased for grazing. The goal is
to sell
1 million acres of these lands. An additional 600,000 acres of public
land is
referred to as cultivated leased land. These
lands are all for sale and in many cases there is
prime natural
habitat found on these lands.
Status of Natural Habitat
in Southern Saskatchewan:
Overall we have lost 80% of our natural
landscape south of the forest fringe. We
have one of the most modified landscapes in North
America.
- 85%
of the land is privately owned. 15% is
public land and includes, Provincial
Parks,
Community Pastures, Fish and Wildlife Development Fund lands and
Agriculture leased lands.
- Our
public lands (15% of the land base) contains half of the critical
wildlife habitat remaining in southern Saskatchewan
Loss of
Habitat - Impact
on Biodiversity:
- 40%
of our original wetlands are gone
- 20%
of our native plants are rare and disappearing at an alarming rate.
- Two
out of three bird species are declining in numbers including burrowing
owls, Sprague’s pipits and familiar well known species like meadowlarks
and killdeers.
- Once
common mammals such as, long-tailed weasels and Franklin’s ground squirrels have
declined and have disappeared from areas of their former range.
Our Goal
- To
retain and protect all public land that contains natural habitat.
- To
make government aware that the people of Saskatchewan treasure the
value of Crown owned land and under no conditions should any Crown
owned land that has an ecological value be considered for sale; present
or in the future.
Solution:
- Do
not sell public land that contains native habitat.
- Retain
and preserve public land containing natural habitat for Ecological
Goods and Services benefits for society as a whole.
Your Letters to Premier
Brad Wall:
- Should
be polite and constructive.
- State
why maintaining wildlife and public lands are important to you
personally i.e.: bird watching, hunting, conservation, enjoyment and
inspiration, etc.
- Provide
reasons why the sale of public lands is an issue. Refer
to examples and some of the facts and statistics above.
- What
do you want the Premier to do?
- Do
not sell public lands that contain natural habitat
- Do
not remove lands designated under WHPA.
- Ask
questions such as;
- How
will the province meet its goals set out in the Biodiversity Action
Plan, if it sells off over a million acres of public land with no
guarantee that the natural lands will be preserved?
- How
does the province plan to halt and reverse the decline of our native
flora and fauna without protecting remaining natural habitat on public
land?
- Has
the province considered the value of Ecological Goods and Services that
native Crown lands provides for public benefits such as controlling
soil and water erosion, carbon sequestration and preserving
biodiversity?
- Use
your own words, experiences, concerns and questions.
- Be
sure to ask questions in your letter and say that you look forward to
his response and a response from the Minister of Agriculture.
Final
Comments:
Your letter need not be long.
Short and to the point is fine.
- Hand
written letters are excellent.
- If
you communicate by email, be sure to include your complete name and
mailing address. An email with just a name
may go unanswered.
If
you have any questions,
concerns, ideas or want more information contact: Lorne Scott at
695-2047 or at lorne.scott@sasktel.net
Mailing and email address for
the Premier:
Honourable
Brad Wall
Premier of Saskatchewan
Legislative Building
Regina, SK
S4S 0B3
Email
Premier Brad Wall at: premier@gov.sk.ca
It
would be worthwhile to
send a copy of your letter to the Honourable Bob Bjornerud, Minister of
Agriculture and your MLA. All MLAs can
be reached at the Legislative
Building or
their
constituency office.
Thank
you for your help on
this very important issue. Your letter
will make a difference.
Lorne
Scott
Conservation Director
Nature Saskatchewan
February 28, 2009
In
early November 2008,
on behalf of Nature Moose Jaw, Kimberly Epp
sent a strong letter to the Mayor re the environmental issue of the
river lowering. The mayor responded by placing this issue on the city
council agenda for
mid-November. At the meeting, Vivian Darroch-Lozowski
spoke on behalf of Nature Moose Jaw,
the Wakamow Valley Authority and the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation.
The points she made were that this issue's long history needed to be
attended to for the sake of all stakeholders concerned, who urgently
desired to meet with the city. She noted that the waters of Plaxton Lake and the drain area must
be restored so that they were living waters again: there are no fish in
these waters now and the river is virtually dead. She also appealed for
the sake of the leopard frog (an endangered species in Canada), other
amphibians, and other life. She placed all her remarks within the
larger context of how cities, nationally and internationally, are now
evaluated on their progress along ecological dimensions and raised the
question as to whether the City of
Moose Jaw was attending to the quality of life variable that
economists call the environmental capital of a city, this variable
being known to be tied positively to the economic wealth of a city and
the health of its residents. She closed her submission to council
requesting that they make a motion to arrange a meeting as soon as
possible with representatives of environmental organizations concerned.
Ron Silvers
also spoke, underlining the seriousness of the issue and urging the
council to move forward positively in addressing the water
deterioration in the drain area in question. He further urged the
council to co-operate with environmentalists in good faith. After
discussion, the council unanimously passed a motion to meet with all
stakeholders concerned within two weeks. Mr.Ryan Johnson of
the City Engineering Department
has already initiated action and the first meeting of all involved will
be held December 8, 2008.
Vivian
wishes to thank Ms
Margaret Moran (Wakamow), Mr. Darrell Crabbe (SWF), and Mr. Adam
Matichuk (SWF) for their input into her submission to council.
(submitted by Vivian Darroch-Lozowski)
October 17,
2008
A small but excited group set out for a
dusk/night hike at
Wakamow on October 17th.
President Kimberly Epp led the group and
showed that with a strong,
red light you can identify nocturnal animals by the color of their
eyeshine
reflected back. A raccoon was identified
because the color of its eyeshine was yellow. The group saw beavers and
muskrats as well, and one of the highlights was listening to a great
horned owl
hooting – for several minutes as the group hooted back!
Watching the moon rise was beautiful.
With a full moon many crepuscular (active at
dusk and dawn) creatures are even more active.
September 25, 2008 Jean Ann and Donna went
to Buffalo Pound Lake to clean out the blue bird boxes. There was
evidence of 3 blue birds at the boxes, 2 feathers and 1 egg - all in
different boxes. Most of the 22 boxes had wren nests, a few were
empty and a few needed fixing. It was 25 degrees, gentle wind and
a most beautiful fall day.
May 30 to June 1, 2008 Nature Saskatchewan's
Spring Meet
Held in Weyburn
A number of our members attended the Spring Meet in Weyburn and had a
wonderful time meeting others from Saskatchewan and other
provinces. Great field trips, wonderful banquet and so many good
people. Thank you Weyburn.
Sheina Wait Planting Native
Western Red Lilies
near Nicole Flats
Jean Ann Mowchenko, Ron Cork, Len
Mowchenko, Cleaning Blue Bird Boxes at
Buffalo Pound Lake
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