A vision for the future of PFRA community pastures
Earlier this year I wrote a post about the largest land transfer in to occur in the recent Canadian history, affecting management of 9,290 square kilometres of native prairie (see the article titled “What is the future for PFRA community pastures?”). In a nutshell, the Canadian government decided that it does not want to look after some of the largest un-fragmented tracts of grasslands found anywhere in the world, and told the three prairie provinces that they can do whatever they want with the land that used to be under the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (rather...
Read MoreWhat is the future for PFRA community pastures?
For over 75 years, the Canadian government has managed a large swath of community pastures across the Canadian Prairies, comprising of 929,000 hectares (2.3 million acres) of some of the largest unfragmented tracts of grasslands found anywhere in the world. If grasslands included in the Community Pasture Program (CPP) were a country, they would rank 168th in size – slightly larger than the Republic of Cyprus and right behind Lebanon. Or in the Canadian context, the PFRA community pastures cover the area that is 1.6 times the size of Prince Edward Island. The federal...
Read MoreMaple Creek Ranch Rodeo
I enjoy visiting and photographing rodeos in smaller centres throughout Saskatchewan. My favourites are rodeos taking place in Maple Creek and Wood Mountain. The Wood Mountain Stampede is Canada’s longest continuously running rodeo, this year entering its’ 123rd season. Much longer than a better-advertised Calgary Stampede. This year I decided to try something different. I went to see the 25th Annual Ranch Rodeo in Maple Creek. The Ranch Rodeo is slightly different than your average rodeo. It is designed to replicate the usual activities and duties cowboys have to perform while...
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