Canada Parks Day & State of Canada’s Parks report
It was Canada’s Parks Day this weekend. This is an annual event where thousands of Canadians participate in educational and family-oriented events. Activities are organized in national parks, national historic sites, provincial parks, territorial parks and in community and regional parks across the country. Canada’s Parks Day is usually celebrated on the third Saturday in July of every year. Another, related event is the annual release of a report by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) on the ecological health and status of our parks, both federal and provincial....
Read MoreArticle about PFRA community pastures by Laura Stewart
Saskatchewan singer, song-writer and author Laura Stewart wrote a passionate and reflective article about the PFRA community pastures for the latest edition of Briarpatch magazine. A few of my images were used to illustrate the story. Here are a few excerpts from the article titled A voice for the grasslands: The struggle for an endangered prairie ecosystem. “My first such assignment (.. survey of plant species..) in a PFRA pasture was 15 years ago. So powerful and overwhelming was that meeting with vastness and vibrant prairie life that the sensations come back to me at...
Read MoreHorse in pasture with sagebrush, Val Marie PFRA Community Pasture
I spent several hours photographing a group on horses near the Val Marie PFRA community pasture headquarters. This horse decided to run through a field of sagebrush to catch up with his buddies. Val Marie PFRA is the largest community pasture in Saskatchewan, containing over 41,256 hectares (101,946 acres) of magnificent native prairie. Frenchman River flows through the pasture, with rugged valley slopes adding to it’s photographic appeal. Together with the adjacent Beaver Valley PFRA pasture, there are over 200,000 acres (80,000 hectares) of un-interrupted native prairie. Something...
Read MoreSaskatchewan Community Pastures video
Here is a short video that I prepared for the Public Pastures – Public Interest group, a citizen-based organization devoted to maintaining Saskatchewan’s public grasslands as healthy prairie ecosystems and working landscapes. The idea was to raise awareness about the plight of former PFRA community pastures that will no longer be manged through the 70-year old Community Pasture Program, and transferred from federal control to the prairie provinces. The Saskatchewan government is not interested in managing these large tracts of native prairie and plans to sell or lase the...
Read MoreNature in the City – art exhibit at the Centre & Eight Galleries
The Nature in the City art exhibit of nature photographs and paintings featuring works of five Saskatoon artists will be on display at the Centre at Circle and Eight Galley in Saskatoon until July 7, 2013. Three of my plant images from the Meet Your Neighbours project are on display, together with works by Louise Cook, Robin and Arlene Karpan, May Haga and Nick Saunders. This exhibit was set up to coincide with the week-long festival Wild About Saskatoon, to celebrate nature and culture in the City of Saskatoon. We set up the art exhibit in a heavily visited area, in a shopping mall right...
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