Our Forest Returns Saskatoon

  🔥🌲 COMMUNITY CALL FOR HELP — HELP PROTECT OUR URBAN FORESTS 🌲🔥 Following the recent fire discovered May 11 in the west side of the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (RSBBAA), there is growing concern about the fire risks and safety hazards posed by bush shelters and debris structures built within the forest. A Saskatoon Fire Department firefighter suggested that dismantling these shelters could help prevent future fires and reduce dangers from unstable logs collapsing onto people inside. Thankfully, this was NOT a homeless encampment, but it does highlight how quickly disaster could occur during these extremely dry spring conditions. Even Meewasin Valley Authority recently posted warnings about the VERY dry conditions across the river valley and natural areas, urging everyone to use extreme caution outdoors. Currently: 🌲 Two large shelters exist on the west side of RSBBAA 🌲 Two smaller shelters are on the east side 🌲 One additional structure exists in George G...

  https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/citizen-gathering-ecological-assessment-humboldt-strong-forest-tickets-1989332897247?aff=oddtdtcreator 🌱 The Memorial Healing Forest is growing from vision into reality near Clavet, Saskatchewan — a living landscape of remembrance, restoration, and community hope inspired by Humboldt Strong and the spirit of the Highway of Heroes. This is more than getting ready for a tree-planting project. It is a long-term commitment to prairie restoration, biodiversity, climate resilience, and healing through nature. Every volunteer hour, every seed, every sapling, and every act of care helps shape a forest that will stand for generations. 📅 Upcoming opportunities to get involved: 🌿 May 24 Ecological Assessment (BioBlitz) Join us using the free iNaturalist app to document local biodiversity. It’s simple: 1️⃣ Find it 2️⃣ Take a photo 3️⃣ Share it Your observations directly support citizen science, restoration planning, and ecological research. 🌱 June Public Engag...

A Cautionary Story: Terri’s Quick Thinking in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area On May 11, 2026, around the noon hour, Terri was walking on the west side of the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area when she noticed thin smoke rising through the trees. The Guardians of the Afforestation Area: A Story of Thanks As she moved closer, she discovered a debris shelter, also known as a brush tipi, built from stacked dead logs and branches arranged in a cone shape, partly supported by a living tree. Inside the structure, a fire had been started and was still active under dry spring conditions. The situation was immediately concerning. The spring season had left dry grasses, twigs, and fallen leaves highly flammable, and steady winds moving through the forest could easily carry embers into surrounding areas. Terri attempted to manage and cool the fire, but quickly realized it was spreading into the dry materials of the structure. The combination o...

    Spot the Difference in Nature: A Close Look at Saskatoon’s Living Landscape At first glance, the images seem familiar—quiet greenspaces, open grassland edges, and familiar wildlife resting in plain sight. But look closer. Something has changed. This “Spot the Differences” nature challenge, created with the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas , a non-profit environmental charity, invites readers to slow down and observe the subtle details of local ecosystems while reconnecting with the natural world. It is both a visual puzzle and a reminder that nature is always shifting—often in ways we only notice when we truly pay attention. Within these scenes, participants may encounter a cast of prairie wildlife: the gentle Mourning Dove resting in open areas, the industrious Yellow-bellied Sapsucker marking trees in search of sap, the migratory Lapland Longspur moving through seasonal landscapes, the winter-adapted Snowshoe Hare blending into changing ground cover, and t...

  Becoming Part of the Forest: How Volunteers and Donors Can Help Grow the Memorial Healing Forest Help Us Grow the Memorial Healing Forest Help us create a living tribute near Clavet, Saskatchewan—a forest that honours the lives lost in the 2018 Humboldt Broncos bus tragedy, while also remembering earlier moments of grief that have shaped the hockey community and the province. The idea for this tribute echoes the spirit of Canada’s Highway of Heroes Tree Tribute, which honours veterans through living memorials of trees. In the same way, this forest will stand as a legacy of remembrance, resilience, and community care, offering a place where people can come together to reflect, heal, and reconnect with the land. This forest also honours the 1986 Humboldt Broncos bus accident, which claimed the lives of players including Scott Kruger, Trent Kresse, and Brent Ruff, and the 1980 Swift Current Broncos accident, which took the life of Bryan Pergel. By naming these...

  A former stretch of highway near Clavet, Saskatchewan is being reimagined as something entirely new: the Memorial Healing Forest —a living landscape of remembrance, restoration, and renewal. Rooted in the memory of the Humboldt Broncos tragedy and shaped by the urgent need for ecological repair, this 5.431-hectare site will be transformed from compacted road corridor into a thriving prairie forest. Thousands of native trees will be planted alongside swales, soil restoration systems, and habitat structures designed to bring water, wildlife, and biodiversity back to the land. But this is more than restoration. It is a place where grief is not erased, but carried forward into growth. A living classroom where environmental education, climate action, and community healing meet under one canopy. Inspired by ecological thinkers and land stewards around the world, the project asks a simple but powerful question: what if remembrance could take root? 🌱 From highway to habitat 🌱 From ...