Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park. Humboldt Broncos Memorial Forest. Come to Nature. Come to Life. Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestationk Areas Inc. friendsareas.ca
Grass and Brush Fire Response Underway Near George Genereux Urban Regional Park
Residents are being asked to avoid the entire area surrounding George Genereux Urban Regional Park on Tuesday, May 26, as the Saskatoon Fire Department responds to a grass and brush fire located along the western edge of the park near the CNR rail corridor. George Genereux Urban Regional Park IS CLOSED till further notice stay tuned to the City of Saskatoon. Re-opened June 4, 2026
Emergency crews are actively working to contain the fire and protect surrounding green spaces, infrastructure, and nearby habitats. Smoke may be visible from surrounding neighbourhoods as firefighters manage hot spots and prevent the flames from spreading through dry grasses and brush.
The 148-acre urban regional park is an important naturalized area within Saskatoon’s west side, providing habitat for birds, pollinators, small mammals, and native vegetation. During dry spring conditions, grasslands and brush areas can become highly vulnerable to fast-moving fires, especially during windy weather or periods of low moisture.
Members of the public are encouraged to stay clear of the area while emergency operations continue. Avoiding the site helps ensure public safety and allows firefighters unobstructed access to trails, service roads, and fire response zones.
Grass and brush fires can spread rapidly through naturalized urban areas due to dry vegetation, accumulated plant litter, and changing wind conditions. Firefighters often work quickly to create containment lines, extinguish smouldering vegetation, and monitor surrounding areas for flare-ups.
Urban naturalized parks play an important ecological role by supporting biodiversity, improving air quality, reducing stormwater runoff, and providing opportunities for recreation and environmental education. Protecting these spaces during wildfire or brush fire events is important not only for public safety, but also for maintaining healthy urban ecosystems.
Residents are reminded to use caution during dry conditions by properly disposing of cigarettes, not smoking nor vaping in city greenspace park areas, avoiding open flames near grasslands, and reporting signs of smoke or fire immediately to emergency services and DO NOT use George Genereux Urban Regional Park until notice is given by the City of Saskatoon please.
Further updates regarding trail access or reopening of the area may become available following fire suppression and safety assessments by local authorities.
A sincere note of thanks and appreciation is extended to the members of the Saskatoon Fire Department for their rapid response, professionalism, and dedicated efforts in protecting both public safety and the natural environment during this grass and brush fire incident. Their work safeguarding Saskatoon’s communities, green spaces, wildlife habitat, and urban ecosystems is deeply appreciated.
The 30-30-30 Rule: A Formula for Wildfire Danger
In wildfire management, a critical environmental threshold called “crossover” indicates when fire behavior transitions from manageable to extreme. This high-risk state occurs when three weather elements hit the number 30 at the same time:
Heat: Temperatures reach 30°C or above.
Dryness: Relative humidity drops to 30% or lower.
Wind: Sustained wind speeds hit 30 km/h or faster.
The Bottom Line: When these conditions align, forests and grasslands dry out rapidly, allowing fires to ignite instantly, spread at terrifying speeds, and easily bypass containment lines.
Celebrating Species at Risk in Saskatoon’s Afforestation Areas
February 7, 2026
On February 7, 2026, communities around the world will unite to celebrate Reverse the Red Day—a global call to action that highlights conservation success and proves that species decline can be slowed, halted, and even reversed. In Saskatoon, two remarkable urban natural areas stand as living examples of this hopeful message: the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and the George Genereux Urban Regional Park.
Together, these landscapes form part of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas, providing essential habitat for a wide range of Species of Concern and Species at Risk, while demonstrating the powerful role urban forests play in biodiversity conservation.
Urban Forests with a Conservation Legacy
The 326-acre (132-hectare) Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and the 148-acre (60-hectare) George Genereux Urban Regional Park are more than green spaces. They are ecological refuges—carefully stewarded landscapes that support native plants, insects, birds, and animals in an increasingly urbanized region.
These afforestation areas were created with foresight and purpose, and today they contribute directly to the goals of Reverse the Red by:
Providing habitat for vulnerable and declining species Supporting migration corridors and breeding grounds Maintaining native plant diversity Offering opportunities for research, education, and community engagement Species at the Heart of Reverse the Red
Reverse the Red Day emphasizes evidence-based optimism, and the species found within Saskatoon’s afforestation areas reflect both conservation challenges and opportunities.
Animals
Among the mammals and amphibians relying on these habitats are the Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus), a species facing widespread threats across North America, and the Western (Barred) Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma mavortium), which is Endangered in Canada under the Species at Risk Act. Wetlands and forest edges within these parks are critical to their survival.
Birds (Aves)
The afforestation areas support an impressive diversity of birds, including grassland, woodland, and wetland species—many of which are listed as Species of Concern or at risk.
Notable species include:
Baird’s Sparrow (Centronyx bairdii) – Special Concern in Canada Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) – Vulnerable Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus anatum) – A conservation success story still requiring protection Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) – Declining across its range Sprague’s Pipit (Anthus spragueii) – Strongly tied to intact grassland habitat
Wetland and shorebird species such as American White Pelican, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, and Red-necked Phalarope depend on the mosaic of water, forest, and open space these areas provide. Raptors including Osprey, Northern Loggerhead Shrike, and Turkey Vulture further demonstrate the ecological value of these urban forests.
Invertebrates
Often overlooked, invertebrates are essential to ecosystem health—and many species within the afforestation areas are considered Species of Concern.
Their presence reflects the importance of native vegetation, undisturbed soils, and habitat continuity.
Plants: The Foundation of Recovery
Plants form the backbone of all conservation efforts, and the afforestation areas host numerous native plant species with conservation rankings that signal long-term concern.
These include:
American Elm (Ulmus americana) – Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) – Facing widespread decline Northern Small Yellow Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum var. makasin) – Vulnerable in Saskatchewan Plains rough fescue (Festuca hallii), Engelmann’s spike-rush, and Red-berried Elder – All with elevated conservation concern
Protecting and restoring native plant communities ensures habitat stability for every species above them.
Reverse the Red in Action
Reverse the Red Day invites organisations and communities to move beyond awareness toward measurable impact. For Saskatoon’s afforestation areas, this includes:
Habitat protection and restoration Monitoring and documenting species presence Supporting afforestation and native planting initiatives Educating the public about species at risk Celebrating conservation success stories
By sharing these efforts, making Species Pledges, and hosting educational events, local partners help connect urban residents to global biodiversity goals.
A Future Rooted in Hope
The Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional Park show that urban spaces can be places of recovery, not just recreation. On Reverse the Red Day, they remind us that conservation success is possible when communities commit to stewardship, collaboration, and long-term vision.
Every restored habitat, every protected species, and every informed citizen brings us closer to reversing the red—and ensuring that future generations inherit landscapes alive with birdsong, pollinators, and resilient native forests.
Part SE 23-36-6 – Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063
Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area or
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot
The site chosen for the memorial forest is, at present, a wasteland—an abandoned parcel of land on the outskirts of Clavet. It is the kind of landscape that typically becomes a dumping ground or development afterthought: bare soil, compacted earth, no shade, no structure, nothing that might inspire care.
In other words, it is the perfect place to begin again.
Help bring this vision to life—one tree, one family, one community at a time.
The inspiration comes partly from Ontario’s Highway of Heroes Living Tribute, where millions of trees are being planted to honour fallen Canadian service members. But the prairie variant adapts this model to a harsher climate and a different emotional terrain. Here, the goal is not only to honour those who died, but to reclaim land from neglect and transform it into a space for reflection, healing, and ecological renewal.
Their vision for the Clavet Memorial Forest is multilayered:
A sanctuary for families and communities to gather, remember, and grieve. A sanctuary for remembrance, where families and communities can gather beneath a canopy of living tribute.
A greenspace for residents and travellers, especially ecotourists following the Yellowhead Highway, looking for quiet refuge.
A teaching forest, where Indigenous knowledge keepers, scientists, and students can learn from each other.
A research and education hub, where schools, Indigenous knowledge keepers, and citizen scientists can learn and collaborate.
A restored ecosystem, replacing ecological barrens with climate-resilient trees, native grasses, and wildlife habitat.
Indigenous and Métis elders come forward to enrich community collaborating on cultural and ecological storytelling for interpretive signage, tours, pamphlets.
Schools and youth groups use the forests for climate education and citizen science.
Local businesses contribute materials, equipment, and sponsorship.
Volunteers monitor species, maintain trails, and advocate for long-term protection.
A climate-mitigating carbon sink, built on principles championed by Richard St. Barbe Baker—the Saskatchewan-born environmentalist who founded the Men of the Trees and influenced global afforestation efforts.
It is a living answer to loss—a reminder that memory can take root and spread.
Add your voice, your time, or your hands to a forest that belongs to all.
Why a Forest? Because the Prairies Have Been Stripped Bare
Afforestation in Saskatchewan is neither simple nor guaranteed. These are some of the most extreme growing conditions in Canada: scorching summers, brittle winters, drought cycles that can render the soil as hard as fired clay.
Yet it is here—precisely here—that forests matter most.
Saskatchewan’s remaining native prairie represents one of the most endangered ecosystems on Earth. Every patch of restored habitat acts as a lifeline for biodiversity: songbirds, owls, deer, foxes, pollinators, and prairie plant species that are disappearing everywhere else.
Join a community restoring hope, habitat, and heritage.
The Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas know this better than anyone. Over the past decade they have advocated for two forgotten urban forests—Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional Park—into thriving ecological sanctuaries. They removed nearly 200,000 pounds of waste, fought for trail safety, restored wetlands and grasslands, and brought thousands of citizens into climate action.
These are not just trees. They are acts of resistance.
Be part of a prairie forest that heals the land and the people on it.
A Coalition of Care
What makes this new memorial forest remarkable is not only its ecological ambition but the breadth of those who have stepped forward to support it.
This is what community looks like—not the sentimental version promoted in political speeches, but the hard, grounded work of people choosing to care for land and each other.
Stand with us as we restore land, honour stories, and build connection.
A Future We Choose to Grow
The memorial forest near Clavet will not undo past grief. No forest could. But it will do something that is increasingly rare in the modern world: It will give grief a place to live.
A place where families can walk and remember. A place where children can learn what happened and why it matters. A place where trees grow not just upward, but outward—casting roots into a community that refuses to forget.
A correction to ecological degradation. A correction to the erasure of trauma. A correction to a cultural habit that treats tragedy as a moment, rather than a continuum.
We deeply appreciate and acknowledge all letters of support which have arrived from the RM of Blucher, the Village of Clavet, the City of Humboldt, and regional organizations. Contractors are at the ready. Businesses have expressed interest. The project hopes to secure funding by spring, plant by autumn, and grow the project for decades. When communities mobilize—when they plant, restore, educate, and refuse to forget—they do more than grow forests. They grow resilience. Perhaps the most striking element of this story is how much of it is powered by community. What emerges is not merely a forest, but an ecosystem of relationships. The project, envisioned by Project Manager René Kreutzwieser and championed by the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas, has gathered support from the Village of Clavet, the RM of Blucher, the City of Humboldt, researchers at the University of Saskatchewan, and a growing chorus of environmental and community groups.
Its purpose is clear: To create a living memorial that refuses to let Saskatchewan forget.
In a province where the land bears so many scars, this forest will become something radical: a reminder that healing, like restoration, is a long, patient, communal act.
We cannot change the events that brought us here. But we can choose what grows in their shadow.
And in Saskatchewan, on ten acres of reclaimed earth beside a small prairie village, something living and lasting is about to take root.
Here, sorrow did not disappear. It took root. Here, memory is not a stone. It is a sapling. Here, we plant not just trees, but a new way of living with the land and with each other.
And perhaps, years from now, long after the first slender shoots push through the prairie wind, visitors will walk among the trees and understand that this is what resistance looks like—not grand, not loud, but persistent, rooted, and growing still.
Join us in growing a place where memory, healing, and hope take root.
The Memorial Forest honouring the Humboldt Broncos stands as a living place of remembrance—not only for the team members and staff who lost their lives in the 2018 Humboldt Broncos bus accident, but also in honour of earlier tragedies that touched the hockey community and the province. The 1986 Humboldt Broncos bus accident, which claimed the lives of players including Scott Kruger, Trent Kresse, and Brent Ruff, remains a solemn chapter in Saskatchewan’s history. The 1980 Swift Current Broncos accident, which took the life of player Bryan Pergel, is remembered as well.
By naming these events openly and respectfully, the forest acknowledges that grief and resilience echo across generations. The trees become symbols of continuity—rooted in loss, but growing toward hope. The Yellowhead Memorial Forest will not erase grief. But it may transform it—into shelter, into shade, into songbird habitat, into carbon stored safely in the ground. The Memorial Forest proposes that the environment is a relationship. Relationships, unlike infrastructure, cannot simply be built. They must be cultivated. And they grow only when people insist on them.
Become a steward of remembrance, reconciliation, and renewal.
The memorial forest also recognizes that healing in Saskatchewan stretches far beyond hockey tragedies. For many Indigenous families, the impacts of the residential school system continue across lifetimes. As a greenspace dedicated to reflection, reconciliation, and connection to the land, the forest provides an inclusive setting where all forms of community healing are honoured.
Through its memorial plantings, storytelling, and shared stewardship, the forest becomes a place where the memory of the Broncos, the legacies of earlier losses, and the path of healing from residential schools can coexist—rooted in sorrow, strengthened by community, and guided by a shared commitment to move forward together.
The memorial forest will say: Here, sorrow did not disappear. It took root. Here, memory is not a stone. It is a sapling. Here, we plant not just trees, but a new way of living with the land and with each other.
And perhaps, years from now, long after the first spades of earth are turned and the first slender shoots push through the prairie wind, visitors will walk among the trees and understand that this is what resistance looks like—not grand, not loud, but persistent, rooted, and growing still.
Together, we can turn loss into legacy—and legacy into living forest.
The Clavet Memorial Forest is more than a project—it is an invitation. An invitation to honour the past, restore the land, and grow a future rooted in hope, remembrance, and reconciliation. We welcome everyone who feels called by this vision: families seeking a place of healing, educators and students eager to learn, Indigenous knowledge keepers wishing to share teachings, businesses ready to support local environmental action, and volunteers who believe in the quiet power of planting change one tree at a time.
Together, we can transform a neglected landscape into a living sanctuary—one that shelters wildlife, restores the prairie, strengthens community, and stands as a testament to resilience across generations.
Join us. Stand with us. Help this forest take root.
September 22-28, 2024 🎉 Join the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas for a week of celebration and action! This year’s theme, “Two-Eyed Seeing: Welcoming All Knowledge to Sustain Our Forests,” emphasizes the importance of integrating both Indigenous and Western knowledge for effective forest stewardship. 🌳🧠
🚩 Kick off the week with our Flag Raising Ceremony on September 22 at 2:00 PM in Civic Square! 🌍✨ This event symbolizes our commitment to unity and respect for diverse perspectives in forest conservation.
🌱 On September 24 at 7:00 PM, join us at Cliff Wright Library for an insightful talk by Dr. Eric Lamb on managing invasive grasses and embracing sustainable practices. 🌿📚
📢 Don’t miss out on more exciting events throughout the week at Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional Park! 🌳🌞
Be part of the change and celebrate with us! 💚🌍 #NationalForestWeek #TwoEyedSeeing #ForestStewardship #CelebrateTrees #Sustainability #CommunityAction #FriendsOfTheForest #SaskatoonEvents
Forests of Memory. Forests of Learning. Forests for Life. 