Dear Members, I hope you all have been able to get out and enjoy this summer. So far, we can appreciate the smoke-free days, and we cross our fingers that we continue to escape the fires that plagued us last year! I had a nice email recently from Dr. David Bird of McGill about the progress in naming the official Canadian Bird – The Canada Jay. It has now passed the Senate and is back to the Commons for one more go. This is all very exciting as we recognize the importance of birds in Canada. This follows another positive email, this time from the Province of Saskatchewan advising that they are no longer pursuing changes to the Saskatchewan Environmental Project Management Act - great news! These emails happened during the days we anxiously await the city to decal the windows on the north side of City Hall that are notoriously hard on migratory birds. We have been told that the city will have this fixed up shortly – also very good news!
What do these three events have in common? They are the direct result of citizen advocacy, either letter writing, petitioning or meeting with officials. Our membership has been active in calling for a safe & healthy environment for biodiversity! Advocacy works; sometimes it can feel overwhelming and discouraging but then it comes together, and people hear us! Well done, but as we all know there is much more to do!!
I was delighted and encouraged to read Joe Muldoon’s President’s report in the current Blue Jay regarding the desperate situation wetlands in our province are in. As President of Nature Sask, he makes some very critical points we should be thinking of and acting on! He writes:
Another thing I’d like to raise …, is that habitat loss and drainage across this province are continuing at unprecedented and escalating levels. I strongly encourage you to take a drive in almost any rural area and look at the amount of bush and wetlands/lowlands that have been removed and filled over during the past year. If we continue to lose habitat in this Central Flyway of North America, birds and animals will disappear and be unable to return without significant and costly restoration…
I strongly encourage you to observe and document the loss of natural habitat this spring and early summer, as fields thaw and woodpiles are scattered, pushed into lowland areas to serve as fill, or burned. Please contact your local reeve or mayor, your MLA, the Premier, or the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency with your concerns. Circulate and post your pictures and videos. Letters to the provincial government, federal government and local governments (or one letter to all) are by far the most effective means of sharing your concerns. Talk to your local media outlet anonymously or in person. If all of us, collectively, are not able to stop the continuous destruction of our shrinking natural habitat, our bird and animal populations will drastically decline. If we do not take significant action, our prairie province will be irreparably damaged.
Sage advice and I would add one more thing, don’t keep it a secret that you have written a letter, please cc people, your local MLA, Joe Muldoon, or even me. Cc’ing letters add a lot of power to your letters!
To this end, I recently wrote city council and the mayor through Bird Friendly Saskatoon regarding the recent CLIMATE ACTION STRATEGY Engagement Summary and Report by the City of Saskatoon urging the city to make sure biodiversity in our city is valued and nurtured as our city grows. We advised them to show effective stewardship of our unique ecosystems here in Saskatoon. Watch for the follow up action report that is due to come out in the next few weeks before the fall. We will be talking about this more for sure!
Our Board members have been stepping up over the past few months to polish up some of the necessary work that makes SNS tick. This ranges from dealing with insurance and finance, our information systems, reinvigorating our conservation committee and setting up great outings and we are getting our fall & winter program organized! If this appeals to you, please let me know, we are looking especially for those who are interested in social media, if you or you know someone who could help us out, check out our ad regarding our website – let me know!
We are also having a deep look at our bylaws to see if they need some attention – if you have comments, please send me a note or join us on this project.
Have a great summer – get out and enjoy nature!! Hopefully our paths will cross out on the outings!
David Forbes
