Cypress Hills workshop highlights native prairie appreciation week

Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food

June 17 to 23 marks Saskatchewan’s ninth annual Native Prairie Appreciation Week – and also means that another interactive field trip will be organized to showcase the pristine beauty of one of the province’s natural hot spots.

The Saskatchewan Prairie Conservation Action Plan (PCAP) is one of the organizations involved in planning events around this special week. Manager Karyn Scalise says that PCAP and its partners co-ordinate a workshop and field tour every year as part of their efforts.

“It’s held in a different place each year,” Scalise said. “Part of our goal is to familiarize participants with different wonderful places in Saskatchewan, and to give a snapshot of what that area is like.”

Past field trips have been held in the Big Muddy Badlands, the Great Sand Hills, the Moose Mountain area, Grasslands National Park and the Manitou Sand Hills.

This year, organizers decided to centre their workshop and tour at the Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park. “It’s the place where we held our very first Native Prairie Appreciation Week back in 1999,” Scalise noted. “For the past three years, it’s also been the site that our participants said in their evaluations that they most wanted to return to.”

The field trip will take place June 20 and 21. It will include a combination of in-class discussions and tours to local ranches and to sites within the park.

“We spend a little bit of time in a chair hearing presentations and a lot of time out in the field experiencing it for yourself – plus good food and lots of it,” Scalise said.

The event kicks off with a workshop covering a variety of topics, such as area plants and birds, heritage ranching and ranching for biodiversity.

Participants will get to put some of their newfound skills into practice, with a native plant identification team challenge and an optional bird hike planned as part of the two-day event.

Discussion will also focus on how to do health assessments on forest and riparian areas (areas near water). “This is a methodology being developed by many different groups in Saskatchewan,” Scalise said. “It’s a series of small tests that you can perform in an area to get an indication of whether your rangeland is healthy, healthy with a few problems that need to be identified, or unhealthy.”

The ranch tours will definitely be among the highlights of this year’s field trip, Scalise says, because they plan on visiting the ranches of two environmental stewardship award winners. Here, participants will see a stock dog demonstration and an example of how to use sheep to control certain weeds.

To provide a unique Saskatchewan experience, a barbeque banquet will be held during the first evening at the Cypress Hills Vineyards. “Whoever thought we’d be wine-tasting in Saskatchewan?” Scalise said with a chuckle.

The event holds a little bit of something for anyone who enjoys the prairies, learning about nature, or experiencing the great outdoors. “That’s the really great thing about this event. It attracts a diverse crowd. It’s everyone from ranchers to birders and other naturalists, to plant and wildlife specialists who work for government or non-government organizations, to average people who simply enjoy learning about nature and the environment around them,” she stated.

“It provides a terrific forum for all of these people with different interests to come together and celebrate the special diversity that native prairie grasslands hold.”

More details and registration information on the Cypress Hills field trip can be obtained on the PCAP website at www.pcap-sk.ca or by calling (306) 352-0472.

Participation will be limited to 150 people, so anyone interested in attending is encouraged to register early. The pre-registration deadline is June 8. Fees are $75 for producers and students, and $105 for non-producers.

Those attending are expected to make their own arrangements for lodging and transportation to the Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park. From there, bus coaches will be arranged for all tours.

For more information, contact:
Karyn Scalise, Manager
Saskatchewan Prairie Conservation Action Plan
Phone: (306) 352-0472