SSGF Summer Recap
SSGF Summer Recap
The 2023 summer season has been our busiest yet. With the significant growth of our programs and outreach, we have been working hard to deliver conservation projects across the province and increase awareness of our programs.
Our Range Technician, Marika Sherman, took on two students this summer to teach them the ins and outs of rangeland assessments. They have been traveling all over the province to complete assessments on both current projects and proposed new projects. They have logged numerous hours perfecting their plant identification skills while under the supervision of Marika. They’ve had to hone their skills due to the ongoing drought conditions affecting a large portion of the province. The dry conditions make assessments more difficult to finish due to the fragility of native grass once it has dried out. If you are interested in a project with us, let us know so we can plan our field seasons to accommodate all landowners before running too late into the year when the grasses can become more difficult to assess.
Interest for both our conservation agreements and easements in the last year has increased as we become more well-known and we have been able to sign more agreements to continue our conservation work with the help of landowners. No project is the same as each landowner has different goals and obstacles to overcome in order to reach their desired results. We’ve explored agreements that include riparian health outcomes, cross fencing to better manage grasslands and changing grazing strategies to help native grasslands rest and recover. Being able to work with different ranchers to help find solutions that help increase their grassland health is not only rewarding when it comes to conservation goals but we get to learn from each rancher we work with. We have some exciting conservation projects in the works so stay tuned for future updates!
To ensure program success, the SSGF enlisted the help of Robert (Bob) McLean with the creation of a Conservation Easement Policy. Our own General Manager, Brant Kirychuk, also put together a Conservation Agreement Policy to guide the foundation and our board when new projects come forward for approval. Both policy documents were ultimately approved earlier in the year and will be used moving forward on projects to ensure conservation goals are met while keeping SSGF’s vision and goals forefront in collaboration with landowner goals.
This fall we will be running a second round of our Reverse Auction for Native Grassland Restoration. We were able to sign three restoration agreements in the first round and now are looking to expand the project to encompass even more acres. If you are interested in seeding native grass within the next year or two, reach out to the SSGF and we will stay in touch with program updates.
Coming up in December 2023, we are excited to be co-hosting the Transboundary Grassland Partnership in Swift Current with the help of other organizations. The theme for this year’s workshop is ‘Native Grasslands: Culture, Carbon and Conservation’. Discussing topics and new conservation strategies that affect grasslands with industry representatives from Saskatchewan, Alberta and Montana, as well as landowners interested in learning more about conservation of native grasslands.
The SSGF is still in talks with landowners interested in pursuing a Term Conservation Easement and we are looking to officially sign our first easement right away. These easements take time and negotiation to ensure everyone’s concerns are heard before moving forward. The feedback has continued to be positive around the program and we are excited to work with conservation minded landowners to protect more acres of at-risk native grasslands. Since having such a successful spring and summer, we are excited to see what the latter half of the year brings.