2007-2008

ANNUAL REPORT

The Voice of Nature FOR SASKATCHEWAN

Mary Aird Joyce & Bill Anaka F.M. Baines P. Lawrence Beckie Carol Bjorklund Lorne Bjorklund Phyllis Bordass Brenda Brodie Glen R. Brooman James Brown Anthony Capusten Bernice Capusten Steven Capusten John Comer Kyle A. Comer N. Pern Cordery Margaret Cooper Dr. Yvonne Cuttle Albert Dalziel Joyce Deutscher David Donald & Margaret Skeel Jim Duncan Dr. Martin H. Edwards Christopher Escott Robert Ewart Kim Finley Benjamin A. Fleck Thea Brooke Fleck Mariam Fletcher Gerald Fox Vic Friesen Robert Gardner Mary Gilliland Michael Gollop Dana Griffith Dave Halliwell & Michele Williamson Kerry Hecker

Dale & Paule Hjertaas Anne Marie & Brian Irving Ron Jensen Don Johnston Jim Jowsey Robin Karpan Richard Kerbes Gene Kessler Ken Kingdon William Koscielny Sheila Lamont T.E. Larsen Letty & William Last Shirley Leibel Gilly Liebelt Robert MacFarlane Bill & Audrey MacKenzie Eugene Majerowicz Valerie Mitschke Marjorie Mann J.H. More Herb Moulding Rick Mulvenna Robert W. Nero John E. Norman Randy Olson Marie Peronne Diether & Heidi Peschken Jaon Renouf D.W. Robart N. Lorne Rowell Bernard Ryma

Trish Santo Josef Schmutz Frank Scott Lorne Scott Gary Seib Stan Shadick Phyllis Siemens Jim A. Slimmon Rodney Spooner Murray Steffenson Lowell Strauss Evelyn Switzer Peter Taylor Ed Thompson Kevin & Gail Van Tighem Glenn Veeman Ed Walker Robert Wapple Robert Warnock Alison Watson Raymond Watts Harold R. Wilkinson Edith Joan Williams Kenn Wood Gustave J. Yaki Conexus: Board of Directors NISC Colorado: Life Sciences Division SaskEnergy: Environmental Affairs

Life Members

Cover Photo Credits: Frank Roy and George Tosh

President’s Report On the eve of our 60th Anniversary, we are pleased to report that 2007/08 was a very successful year. “To promote appreciation and understanding of our natural environment through education, and, through conservation and research, to protect and preserve natural ecosystems and their biodiversity” is Nature Saskatchewan’s mission. As you read through this year’s annual report we hope you will learn something about how we are carrying out our mission on your behalf. Our Natural Heritage Programs Manager Margaret Skeel can be very proud of the work done by her and her staff for habitat stewardship during the year. The coming year is shaping up to be even busier as Nature Saskatchewan has added the Piping Plover to its roster of endangered birds that we give special emphasis. Burrowing Owls, Loggerhead Shrikes, and now Piping Plovers help get our conser-vation messages to the general public. Rare plant species also receive special attention. Deanna Trowsdale-Mutafov is having great success introducing the PlantWatch program to schools and the general public. Dennis Lawson continues to provide helpful workshops through our Living by Water project, and Muriel Carlson was instrumental in completing our interpretive trails project at our Tur-tle Lake Nature Sanctuary. During the year Nature Saskatchewan was awarded funding of US$50,000 (over two years) from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Neotropical Migratory Bird Fund for our proposal "Stewards of Saskatchewan: Habitat Conservation for Bird Species at Risk." We were one of only two Canadian organizations awarded funding in the year. Margaret Skeel along with Michelle Yaskowich and Andrea Kotylak deserve special credit for this very important success. This winter Nature Quest tours were very popular in ten northern communities. Thanks to Paul Wil-son for getting this program on the boreal forest off to such a great start. Our publication “The Great Sand Hills – a Prairie Oasis” won the Award for Publishing at the Sas-katchewan Book Awards. Special congratulations to the authors Branimir Gjetvaj and Rebecca Grambo. Branimir’s photography shows how beautiful our prairie is in all seasons. Thanks to Paul Wilson and Fraser Hunter for their work on this project for Nature Saskatchewan. We continue to publish books in the Manley Callin series. An updated Birds of Rosetown-Biggar will be out this year. The Birds of Saskatchewan, our next major publishing project lead by Dr. Stuart Houston, Al Smith, and many willing volunteers is well underway with hope of Volume One (of Two) to be completed in 2010. Gary Seib is our Special Publications Director and is part of that team. Our Editors for Blue Jay, Anna and Ted Leighton, and for Nature Views, Rob Warnock and Kim Dohms, continue to do an outstanding job.

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A major development for Nature Saskatchewan is our decision to assume full management of the op-eration of the Last Mountain Bird Observatory (LMBO) in 2008. Until now we have co-managed it with the Canadian Wildlife Service. You will be reading and hearing a lot about this project in the coming months. We are pleased that Al Smith, recently retired from the Canadian Wildlife Service, has joined our team and will continue his important research at LMBO. Margaret Skeel has managed to find time in her schedule to work on LMBO. Thanks Margaret. To ensure the important work of monitoring bird migration at LMBO continues, we are featuring it in our fund raising campaign this year. Our request is for interested birders and naturalists to become Flight Plan Partners for LMBO. Our Flight Plan Partners are asked to contribute $500 or $100 per year for five years to help establish permanent funding for LMBO. Thanks to our Treasurer Bob MacFarlane for his leadership on this important initiative. We will be celebrating our 60th Anniversary in 2009 with one of the highlights being a joint Annual General Meeting with Nature Canada in Regina June 4 - 7. There will be exciting field trips before and after the meeting. We welcomed Kim Dohms as a Member-at-large to the Board of Directors. Recently, Kim was hon-oured by the Regina YWCA as a Woman of Distinction in the Science, Technology & Environment category. The Board regretfully accepted Jared Clarke’s resignation as a Member-at-large during the year. Tara Sample left us after four productive years leading our Rare Plant Rescue Program, and Cheryl Parker departed after seven years helping in administrative areas. Thanks to Jared, Tara, and Cheryl for your contributions to Nature Saskatchewan. Before closing, special thanks to our retiring Honorary President Dr. Doug Schmeiser, always helpful with advice when needed and now free to roam the world looking for that next bird on his life list. Thanks Doug from all of us. Lorne Scott and many others must be thanked here for their support and advice helping me through my second year as your President. I’d mention all of you but space doesn’t allow it. I look forward to working with everyone again next year on our very important mission. Respectfully submitted, Bill MacKenzie

Photo Credit: Andrea Kotylak

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Pin Cushion

Nature Saskatchewan engaged in a number of strategic discussions during the year that high-lighted what it does best and profiled some of its current and future challenges. It is abundantly clear to me that Nature Saskatchewan excels at delivering the activities that help fulfill the vision of the Society, however I expect that others may not have been given the same opportunity to learn of these activities nor have been presented with the same vantage point. Members may be interested in learning more about some of Nature Saskatchewan’s major strengths and successes which consist of conser-vation initiatives that are delivered on a broad scale including the care of six nature sanctuaries, the establishment of conservation easements, de-livery of Stewards of Saskatchewan programs and other educational programs that are tied closely together with conservation efforts, and a number of stewardship initiatives that connect people with nature. Through the expertise of its staff, program managers, Board Members, and dedi-cated and knowledgeable members, Nature Sas-katchewan displays a strong dedication to nature and the appropriate attributes that gives it the ability to deliver broad nature successes. Similar to the many prominent and respected leaders we look up to in each of our communities, Nature Saskatchewan displays a “Strong Culture” which helps to build a “Strong Community”. Members of Nature Saskatchewan, the public, and government and non-governmental organiza-tions may also be interested in knowing more about the tremendous investment in social and environmental goals delivered directly or indi-rectly by Nature Saskatchewan towards eco-tourism opportunities, natural heritage training, educational and vivid publications, ecological re-search, and grassroots

conservation initiatives in communities all across Saskatchewan. The vision of our organization that emerged as the result of the interaction and discussions that occurred between Board members, staff, and So-ciety members over nearly 60 years of dialogue continues to be sustained. It is my hope that through the reading of this Annual Report, mem-bers will take away a “common vision” or a better understanding of Nature Saskatchewan’s many activities, challenges and successes. You can read more about Nature Saskatchewan’s business plans elsewhere in this Annual Report that captures in one fashion or another the key success factors that are critical to the vitality of our Society. Some of those factors consist of:

• Establishing and maintaining broad cir-cles of contacts and influence;

• Constructive engagement and communi-cations with stakeholders and target groups;

• Member participation rooted at the level where there is a sense of ownership;

• A growing adaptive capacity;

• Strong leadership;

• Adequate resourcing and compensation;

• Securing financial and material support from a variety of sources;

• Confronting the financing challenge and accessing long-term and flexible donor commitments; and

• Managing within a changing political en-vironment.

Two areas of special interest to me were explored to some depth during the year. These areas con-sisted of the caring for the health and vitality of our Nature Sanctuaries and exploring ways to build capacity and engage our membership.

Vice-President’s Report

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I have witnessed how our Nature Sanctuary Stewards display a very close attachment to the property they watch over in support of habitat and and species protection. Nature Saskatche-wan’s Board members and staff acknowledged during the year that we must develop a long-term management plan that is right for each Sanctuary. The advice of some Nature Sanctu-ary Stewards is already in hand and that of oth-ers must be sought. In addition, Board Members discussed at great length the opportunities that exist to build ca-pacity and nurture relationships that are of mu-tual benefit to Nature Saskatchewan, Society members, and First Nations People.

We recognized the importance of creating soli-darity around a shared purpose or cause and al-lowing members to work together on common tasks. It is increasingly more evident that mem-bers want positive interaction to get emotionally connected and this can only be accomplished through “people to people” interaction. The op-portunities to get connected with the vision of Nature Saskatchewan today and in the future are in abundance for those who wish to seize that opportunity. Respectfully Submitted, Bernard Ryma

Photo Credit: David Krugoff

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Piping Plover Pair

This past year has again been a good year in terms of programs carried out for the Society. The coordinators and managers are very com-mitted and hard working. Human Resources:

Currently Margaret Skeel is the Manager of Natural Heritage Programs/General Manager and Paul Wilson is the Manager of Member Ser-vices and Outreach. The Administrative Assis-tant position was changed to Office and Projects Coordinator in order to alleviate the load on the Manager of Natural Heritage Programs/General Manager. During the fall this position was filled by Kathleen McNab, but due to health problems she had to leave the position in Janu-ary. Jim Elliot helped in the office until Ellen Bouvier filled the position this spring.

Andrea Kotylak, our Habitat Stewardship Coor-dinator of Operation Burrowing Owl, will be taking maternity leave in August 2008. Tara Sample, our Habitat Stewardship Manager of Stewards of Saskatchewan Communications and Coordinator of Rare Plant Rescue, has now left us to take a position with Erin Consulting Ltd. Sarah Vinge started in the spring of 2008 as the new Habitat Stewardship Coordinator of Rare Plan Rescue. Michelle Yaskowich is the Habi-tat Stewardship Coordinator of Shrubs for Shrikes and started in the spring as Manager of Stewards of Saskatchewan Communications. Deanna Trowsdale-Mutafov continues as the Saskatchewan Plant Watch Coordinator.

Stewards of Saskatchewan summer students for the summer of 2007 were Rebecca West and Bobbi MacDougall, the Living by Water sum-mer student was Ben Brodie, and the Piping Plover Guardian program summer student was Jacqueline Mertler. Policies: There have been no major changes in policies

during the year. Family Day was added to the list of Statutory Holidays.

A strategic planning session for the Board was held in Regina in January 2008 and was led by Donna Bruce. Group discussions were held during the Saturday. The topics covered were general concerns such as Membership, Re-sources, Communications, and Succession Plan-ning, as well as our portfolios, Conservation, Research, Education, Member Services, and Administration. Finances:

The Saskatchewan Lotteries Trust Fund contin-ued again to support our programs by providing Global Funding that helps the Society achieve its vision, mission, and goals.

The Fund Development Committee has contin-ued to meet during the year to plan for increased funding through membership drives and in-creased gifts and donations.

For the fiscal year, audited statements show that unsolicited donations were $26,194, of which $19,561 was for general donations and $6,633 was to specific programs. The Nature Legacy Fund continues to attract donors.

Other:

Nature Saskatchewan’s 60th anniversary falls during the year 2009 and special celebrations will be held. Respectfully submitted, Mary Aird

Administration Director’s Report

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The past year has been very busy with staff, board, member and volunteer activity on a num-ber of conservation issues and areas of protect-ing and managing our natural resources, only some of which are noted below. Nature Sas-katchewan continues to be a responsible, strong and effective voice for nature in Saskatchewan. A special thank you is given to our very compe-tent and hard working staff and many volunteers who represent us on various conservation is-sues. Habitat Issues We have worked with Bessie Meads of Caron-port in helping her protect her land containing nesting loggerhead shrikes from a sewage la-goon expansion by the town of Caronport. In March we presented a brief at a public forum in Esterhazy supporting the protection of undevel-oped road allowances. The local rural munici-pality was seeking public opinion, as road al-lowances were being destroyed and formed by adjacent landowners. Nature Saskatchewan joined four naturalist groups in Alberta and Ecojustice in a legal suit against the Federal Government for not identify-ing critical habitat for sage grouse under the Species at Risk Act. Agrivison is a small well-funded prodevelpment group in Saskatoon intent on managing, control-ling and exploiting rivers in Saskatchewan. They are proposing that a number of dams be constructed on our rivers to drought proof southern Saskatchewan. Little or no mention is made of environmental concern. As expected, the economic review of the High Gate Dam on the North Saskatchewan River near North Battleford re-ported that for every dollar of benefit this project would cost society two dollars.

National Issues Communicated with Conservationists in Alberta about protecting Crown land, specifically how the Wildlife Habitat Protection Act works. Supported Alberta naturalist group and Nature Canada in the ongoing battle to prevent Encana from drilling 1600 natural gas wells in the Suf-field National Wildlife Area. Sent a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper congratulating him for setting aside over 10 mil-lion hectares of pristine wilderness as a pro-tected area in the Mackenzie River Basin. Crown Land The protection of provincial Crown land in South Saskatchewan administered by Sas-katchewan Agriculture and Food has been an ongoing and important issue we have been working on with the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation, Nature Conservancy of Canada and Ducks Unlimited Canada. There are about nine million acres of Crown land involved. Some 3.4 million acres are protected from sale and destruction in the Wildlife Habitat Protection Act. Another million are in cultivated land and a million are in vacant land along the forest fringe and are not suitable for agriculture pro-duction. The remaining lands are critical in maintaining biodiversity in southern Saskatche-wan. We are continuing to work with the prov-ince to try and ensure the protection of the natu-ral values of these public lands. We would pre-fer all natural Crown land be protected under the Wildlife Habitat Protection Act. There is little chance of this happening. Our second op-tion is not to sell natural Crown land. The third option is to place a Conservation Easement on all acres of natural habitat prior to selling our public lands. Limited progress was made on this last option with the previous government. We are meeting with the Provincial Agriculture Minister on May 28, 2008.

Conservation Director’s Report

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The protection of natural habitat on public lands will remain a challenge and a high priority in the coming year. Representation Nature Saskatchewan is represented on many committees, as we are viewed as a knowledge-able and respected voice for conservation. Our interests are represented on over 25 external committees in different areas of concern by a number of our members. These include a num-ber of provincial advisory committees, several federal committees and Species-At-Risk Recov-ery Teams, and a number of other local and pro-vincial committees focused on specific initia-tives. Some committees have continued to re-main dormant. However, others have been ac-tive over the year and our representatives found participation on their respective committees useful and rewarding, e.g. Prairie Conservation Action Plan, Grasslands National Park Advisory Committee, Fish & Wildlife Development Fund Steering Committee, Watershed Planning Com-mittees of Saskatchewan Watershed Authority, the Green Ribbon Community Climate Change Advisory Committee (Regina), and several Spe-cies-At-Risk Recovery Teams. Resolutions At the Fall Meet in North Battleford our mem-bership passed four resolutions. One renewed Nature Saskatchewan’s vision of the Blue Jay as the voice of naturalists across the prairies. A second urged Saskatchewan’s Ministry of the Environment to take immediate action to in-crease the size of the Ecological Reserve within the Great Sand Hills such that the natural attrib-utes of this unique landscape will be protected. A third urged the Government of Saskatchewan (Saskatchewan Watershed Authority) to ensure that pending new policies on wetlands and drainage take a no-net-loss approach such that any drainage is compensated by restoration of nearby wetlands. The final resolution re-sponded to cutbacks at Environment Canada,

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including the Canadian Wildlife Service and the Ecological Monitoring & Assessment Network, urging the Government of Canada to maintain at least current levels of funding

Conservation Award Each year Nature Saskatchewan awards this honour to an individual or organization whose contribution to conservation is outstanding, whether in relation to a particular project, or in many roles over a period of many years. In 2007, the award was presented to the Green-cover Canada Program. This Government of Canada initiative has been successful in assist-ing landowners and producers in improving grassland .management practices, protecting water quality, and enhancing biodiversity and wildlife habitat. Nature Sanctuaries Our six Nature Sanctuaries are an important component of Nature Saskatchewan’s mandate. By tending to and preserving the habitat at each of these precious locations, we demonstrate our commitment to being the “voice of nature for Saskatchewan”. We recognize that each of these sanctuaries is unique and requires an indi-vidual approach: sites that are fragile might be best left undisturbed, and other lands that are more tolerant may be welcoming of visitors and tourists. Our Turtle Lake Nature Sanctuary “Map and Trail Signs” interpretive project was completed in 2007, after several years of work by many volunteers. If you were to stroll along the trails, you would encounter 14 little box signs on posts – info signs made by the Grade 7 wood-working class in St. Walburg School with nature messages that students in the class will be changing every year. The beautiful “welcome” signs, complete with the Turtle Lake Nature Sanctuary logo of a Franklins Lady's slipper in the background, were designed by volunteers Sharon Parker and Kirsten Bergan. These are placed inside the main gate and at the north and south entrances. They invite you to "walk our

etc...." and end with "Please care for our sanctu-ary...and you will be rewarded". The “map” signs are in full color, and show locations of in-terest including the little box signs, locations of special flowers, and some fallen logs used for drumming by grouse. Area residents Bob & Sharon Parker designed and produced a sign at the little "frog pond". Then there is the BIG sign! This is comprised of a donors’ wall and two panels: one panel highlights the geology/geography of the area, and the other outlines the human history, dating back thousands of years based on the discovery of dateable artifacts. Muriel Carlson, an archaeologist, composed the text and these may be the only signs in Sas-katchewan that deal with these topics. We need to know more about our natural heritage! The plaques for the donors’ wall will be assembled soon or in the spring of 2008, and recognize do-nations to the sanctuary of $1000 or more by corporations and the public. The sign is very attractive with a collage of photos of birds, flowers, frogs and other animals that live on the sanctuary. All of the labour for the interpretive signs (except the building of the structure of the big sign) was donated by many volunteers – a big thank you to all, and especially Muriel Carl-son who lead the way, for a wonderful project completed!

Other Activities We continue to work closely with other conser-vation organizations. Several media interviews have been conducted on issues such as the use of strychnine for controlling Richardson’s ground squirrels, cuts to the Canadian Wildlife Service and bird conservation in general. Na-ture Saskatchewan continues to promote conser-vation easements through our outreach pro-grams, and work with other agencies in securing conservation easements through appropriate re-ferrals of interested landowners. We continue to support Important Bird Areas as needed; our role in the IBA program now is to support and facilitate the implementation of actions identi-fied in the community conservation plans for 13 sites.

The above is a very brief summary of the many activities Nature Saskatchewan has been in-volved with. It has been a pleasure to serve as Conservation Director and work with the staff and many vol-unteers in Nature Saskatchewan. Respectively Submitted, Lorne Scott

Photo Credit: M. Yaskowich

Stewards of Saskatchewan Steward Appreciation Day field trip.

Education Director’s Report

Lake Diefenbaker Piping Plover Guardian

Program The Lake Diefenbaker Piping Plover Guardian Program was initiated by Nature Saskatchewan in 2002 to assist in the recovery of the prairie population of the Piping Plover (Charadrius

melodus), a migratory shorebird that has been listed by the Committee on the Status of Endan-

gered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) as En-dangered. The wide beaches of Lake Diefen-baker have attracted up to 23% of Saskatche-wan's Piping Plover population. The greatest threat to Piping Plovers at this reservoir is nest and brood habitat loss due to changing water levels and predation. Other threats include hu-man disturbance, cattle, and vehicles on the beaches. Public understanding of the plight of the plover and its habitat is fundamental to de-creasing the impact of human disturbance on this endangered bird's habitat. The Guardian Program's primary goal is to in-crease Piping Plover productivity through pub-lic awareness and education, and conservation. The program relies on volunteer Guardians to assist the Guardian Coordinator to accomplish this goal. This program is part of the draft South Saskatchewan River Piping Plover Con-servation Plan that has been developed by the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) of Environ-ment Canada, Nature Saskatchewan, Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration of Agricul-ture & Agri-Food Canada, Saskatchewan Agri-culture & Food, Saskatchewan Environment, Saskatchewan Watershed Authority, and Sask-Power. In 2007, the Guardian Program provided public awareness and education about the plover's re-covery needs and habitat requirements through 10 presentations at Douglas, Danielson and Sas-katchewan Landing Provincial Parks and 3 pres-entations at Camp Can Te Kay Ye of the Girl Guides of Canada. As well, people received in-formation and had questions answered at

Douglas Provincial Park Nature Centre and the Danielson Visitor Centre while viewing the Pip-ing Plover display booth. Promotion was also achieved through printed materials, including distribution of the CWS Piping Plover brochure, a Guardian Recruitment pamphlet and the Pip-

ing Plover Post, the newsletter developed by the Guardian Program. A total of 7 volunteer Guardians were recruited to assist in achieving program objectives, and a summer student Guardian, Jacqueline Mertler, was hired. Guardian duties included advertising and assist-ing with presentations, and participating in the 2007 annual Piping Plover census at Lake Diefenbaker. Our summer student’s duties also included plover conservation work with the Sas-katchewan Watershed Authority including sur-veying nesting beaches, reading and reporting leg bands, monitoring broods, building enclo-sures to protect nests from predators, translocat-ing nests at risk of flooding from rising water, and erecting signage and symbolic fencing to protect nests. Having a summer student bene-fited both programs and resulted in the Guard-ian program's ability to continue its commit-ment to conservation activities, as well as edu-cational opportunities provided to the public. Park interpretive staff and leaders at the Girl Guide camp completed presentation evaluation forms. People who attended presentations were also asked to provide feedback. The evaluations were overwhelmingly positive and supportive of the program. After six years of successful programming, 2007 marks the final year for the Lake Diefen-baker Piping Plover Guardian Program. The program has fulfilled its purpose to raise awareness and increase knowledge about the Piping Plover in the Lake Diefenbaker area, as well as to help with conservation measures at this site. This report was prepared from infor-mation provided by Katherine Jacobson, Lake Diefenbaker Piping Plover Guardian Coordina-tor.

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Saskatchewan PlantWatch PlantWatch Saskatchewan is an educational community-based monitoring program that en-courages documentation of the blooming of 20 Saskatchewan plants by “citizen scientists” of all age and skill levels. The species involved in PlantWatch Saskatchewan include: Aspen Pop-lar Bearberry, Northern Bedstraw, Bunchberry, Choke Cherry, Cloudberry, Dandelion, Labra-dor Tea, Larch/Tamarack, Common Purple Li-lac, Prairie Crocus, Saskatoon, Prickly Saxi-frage, Star-Flowered Solomon’s Seal, Star-flower, Wild Strawberry, Sweetgale, Twin-flower, and Wolf Willow. Data collected by volunteers is analyzed to determine how com-mon plants are responding to climate change, where changes are taking place, and at what rate. Survey results and maps are available on the program web site www.plantwatch.ca. The program is part of the Canada PlantWatch program, and is a joint venture between Nature Saskatchewan, Environment Canada’s Ecologi-cal Monitoring and Assessment Network (EMAN) and Nature Canada. PlantWatch has been delivered by Nature Saskatchewan since 2004. It was modeled after the Alberta Wild-flower Survey and, as such, it remains a volun-teer monitoring program set up to help identify ecological changes affecting our environment. PlantWatch enables “citizen scientists” to con-tribute to an understanding of how and/or why our natural environment is changing. A PowerPoint presentation was updated in 2007-08 to be suitable for grades 6 - 8 and over the period from 2007-08, PlantWatch Sas-katchewan gave a total of 18 PowerPoint pres-entations to school classrooms in Regina and area on the PlantWatch program and Climate Change. More presentations are planned in the near future. In addition, a total of 500 shrub and tree seedlings from Shand Greenhouse were dis-tributed to 18 schools and community groups to help students gain an appreciation of native plants. One of the PlantWatcher schools,

Pense Elementary, was also featured on the Canada PlantWatch website as the Plant-Watcher of the month. A PlantWatch spring newsletter with data sheet, a fall update letter and a new brochure were de-signed, printed and widely distributed. A total of 21 members submitted 180 blooming records over the course of 2007. Membership in Plant-Watch has grown to over 150, including indi-viduals, 25 schools, guide and scout groups and community groups. PlantWatch sent out a news release in April, 2007 to over 120 different me-dia sources. PlantWatch had significant cover-age in various media over the year: 4 articles in Nature Saskatchewan’s Nature Views newslet-ter, 2 articles in the Native Plant Society of Sas-katchewan newsletter, article in Gardener of the

Prairie magazine, articles in several local Soci-ety newsletters, links on the Nature Saskatche-wan, Climate Change Saskatchewan and Sas-katchewan Scouts websites; 3 radio interviews, including 2 on CBC radio, and one on 91.3 community radio in Regina; and an article in Regina’s Sunday Sun newspaper. Overview of the PlantWatch program was represented at the Prairie Conservation and Endangered Species Conference in March 2007 in Regina; and at the Western Canadian Agribition, Student Educa-tion area, in November 2006 and 2007. This report was prepared from information pro-vided by Deanna Trowsdale-Mutafov, Plant-Watch Saskatchewan Coordinator. Nature Quest Nature Quest is a program designed to bring na-ture educators into the schools. Since 2005, Na-ture Saskatchewan has successfully presented Nature Quest: Saskatchewan’s Boreal Forest to an increasing number of schools and communi-ties in various parts of Saskatchewan, with pres-entations to school students in grades 5 to 12 and adult groups. The visual presentation fea-tures images of Saskatchewan wildlife and plants and offers facts and narratives of interest around sustainability to young people as part of

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the presentations. This program has a strong impact on students through the development of education materials and events for both students and adults in Northern Saskatchewan and other Saskatchewan communities. Nature Saskatche-wan works with education providers in the areas of natural history and biology to provide an op-portunity for students to learn more about biodi-versity, conservation and sustainability within the boreal forest ecosystem. Nature Quest: Saskatchewan’s Boreal Forest is a classroom-tested and teacher-approved pres-entation/experience that presents a number of key messages to communities within the Boreal Forest ecoregion and elsewhere. Nature Quest engages individuals, groups, and organizations in a dialogue about sustainability and the eco-logical richness of the Boreal Forest. Nature Quest aims to develop an ongoing connection with northern/ boreal communities around is-sues that impact on the boreal forest and sus-tainable logging practices. We engage a forestry expert to deliver the program, which aids in reaching out to northerners with a powerful presentation that will speak of their caring for the land and the cultural connection they share with the land and its plants and animals. For the northern tour the program employs an aborigi-nal storyteller who presents stories from the bo-real that provides the cultural context for stu-dents. The northern tour featured presenters Gord Vaadeland, renowned storyteller Joseph Naytowhow, in addition to forestry expert John Murray who has been instrumental in putting the program together and bringing it to the stu-dents. In 2006 the program was extended to boreal communities in northwest Saskatchewan. This is now a vital component and will be included each year. In 2007 the program concentrated on northeastern communities. Nature Saskatche-wan was able to expand the number of commu-nities reached in the north due to a partnership with Paksimon?eh Library System, and the Prince Albert Grand Council. These organiza-tions, which are situated in the north, were able to provide funds for travel, accommodation, and

meals for the touring presenters. The Paksi-mon?eh Library System was also able to pro-vide a tour coordinator in the north who worked closely with schools and communities to de-velop strong communications prior to the arrival of the presenters. To date over 4,500 students in the north and the south have been reached through the Nature Quest program. Together with the Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society and the Boreal Learning Centre, Nature Saskatchewan is planning to continue to de-velop and use educational presentations to intro-duce students to options for sustainability within the natural world. In the three years the program has been operating, we have begun to develop an ongoing connection with northern/ boreal communities around sustainability issues that impact on the boreal forest. The Nature Quest program has been developed and delivered under the guidance of Paul Wil-son, our Manager of Member Services and Out-reach. The Living by Water Project Nature Saskatchewan (NS) has been the lead regional partner for The Living by Water Pro-ject, a national initiative promoting healthy shorelines for humans and wildlife, since its launch. Over the last ten years, NS has adapted and delivered a number of products, including the handbook On the Living Edge, and six Shoreline Presentations. The program is deliv-ered to waterfront residents that live along shorelines, including lakes, rivers, streams, ca-nals, wetlands, and reservoirs. By informing and motivating waterfront residents towards in-creased environment-friendly living, this pro-gram not only increases appreciation of our natural world, but also improves the health of human and wildlife habitat and results in cleaner air and water. Through services and products which empha-size benefits to them personally (health, finan-cial and recreational) The Living by Water Pro-

ject encourages waterfront residents to adopt 10

more environment-friendly lifestyles, to initiate on-the-ground activities to protect and restore shorelines, and to influence others in their com-munities. This project was initiated in 1997 to promote awareness of the importance of shore-lines and environment-friendly living, and was embraced shortly thereafter, in 1998, by Nature Saskatchewan. Products and activities that are being delivered include the Shoreline Ambassador Program, shoreline presentations, and shoreline work-shops (with our LBW facilitator), as well as ma-terials that include On the Living Edge hand-book, a Shoreline Event & Activity manual, a children’s Quiz & Activity sheet, a youth poster, a Shoreline Makeover poster, and a Wa-terfront Living brochure. Six presentation modules were completed in 2007 and are available on a CD for groups to use. These are in PowerPoint format with de-tailed speaker’s notes and include: Learning

About Your Shoreline; Shoreline Landscaping

and Erosion Control; Agriculture, Our Cottage

and Us: How We Can Make A Difference;

Shoreline Construction; Septic Systems; and

Water Supplies. Presentations using this tool were delivered by our summer student, Ben Brodie, to four community shoreline groups in 2007. These included: Stewards of Jackfish and Murray Lakes, Prince Albert National Park,

Last Mountain Lake Stewardship Group, and Brightsand Lake. In addition, shoreline work-shops/presentations delivered by our facilitator, Dennis Lawson, were provided to six groups, including: Environment Canada, Regina Gyro Club, Blackstrap Watershed Stewards - RV of Shields; Last Mountain Lake Stewardship Group (Regina Beach), Blackstrap Watershed Stewards - RV of Thode, and Ft. Qu’Appelle Lions. Promotion also occurred through news-letter articles in Nature Saskatchewan’s news-letter Nature View. A newsletter article and ad-vertising of the handbook On the Living Edge

were provided to the Saskatchewan Networks of Watershed Stewards, the Provincial Association of Resort Communities of Saskatchewan, and to the Manitoba Association of Cottage Owners, along with a number of watershed stewardship groups, to distribute and print in their newslet-ters. On The Living Edge handbook sales con-tinue to be strong, with 746 books sold in 2007, bringing total distribution from 2003 - 2007 to 2,857 books. Margaret Skeel, our Manager of Natural Heri-tage Programs, continued to guide the delivery of the Living by Water Project, with Dennis Lawson serving as the workshop facilitator.

Photo Credit: Margaret Skeel

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Living by Water workshop at Last Mountain Lake

Graduate Student Scholarship

Nature Saskatchewan awards the Graduate Stu-dent Scholarship worth $1,000 to students en-rolled in post-secondary institutions in Sas-katchewan. The scholarship is awarded to a stu-dent working in a field that complements the goals of our society (including, but not limited to the fields of ecology, wildlife management, biology, and environmental studies). The aim of the scholarship is to stimulate research which will increase knowledge of all aspects of the natural world, and promote appreciation and un-derstanding of our natural environment through education. In 2006 we received 11 excellent applications. The Scholarship Committee awarded two schol-arships worth $1000. The recipients were:

• Kim Dohms, who is working towards her M.Sc. degree in biology at the Uni-versity of Regina. Kim is studying pa-rental care and nestling growth in the Sprague’s Pipit (Anthus sprragueii) in native and planted grassland habitats. Her field research is being conducted in and around the Last Mountain Lake Na-tional Wildlife Area.

• Jessica Stollar, is working towards her M.Sc. degree in biology at the Univer-sity of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. Jes-sica is studying reproductive biology and pollination ecology of the Western Red Lily (Lilium philadelphicum L.).

We wish Kim and Jessica best of luck in pursuit of their studies. Respectfully submitted, Dr. Branimir Gjetvaj

Photo Credit: C. Elchuck

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Western Spiderwort

Local Societies: Nearly all of the eleven Local Societies partici-pated in the Local Society Support program, which saw Nature Saskatchewan assist them in placing a speaker for at least one of their events throughout the year. Popular speakers this year were Branimir Gjetvaj co-author of The Great

Sand Hills: A Prairie Oasis, John Murray from the Nature Quest Program and Michelle Yasko-wich from the Shrubs for Shrikes program. The Canadian Nature Network: The Canadian Nature Network is composed of all who care for, have a passion for, and who celebrate nature. In Saskatchewan that includes Nature Saskatchewan and our affiliate societies. In each province and nationally, all conserva-tion based organizations are considered to be part of the Network. This year Nature Canada conducted focus sessions with Nature Sas-katchewan and some of our local societies. It is hoped that this research and ongoing communi-cation will lead to an effective and efficient net-work for nature in Canada. Spring and Fall Meets: Nature Moose Jaw hosted the 2007 Spring Meet with cooperation from the Chaplin Nature Cen-tre. The over 100 Meet participants enjoyed filed trips in the Old Wives and Chaplin lakes areas. The meet coincided with the Chaplin Shorebird Festival and nearly all the Meet par-ticipants took part in the fundraising banquet for the Interpretive Centre on Saturday evening. Without a local society to provide support for the Fall Meet in North Battleford, registration was down, with approximately 65 participants. Participants enjoyed the field trips focusing on natural heritage as well as the human heritage of the local area.

Many thanks go out to Nature Moose Jaw and to the North Battleford branch of the Saskatche-wan Wildlife Federation for their support and commitment in hosting our meets in 2007. Publications: At the 15th Annual Saskatchewan Book Awards in November 2007, Nature Saskatchewan re-ceived a publishing award for The Great Sand

Hills: A Prairie Oasis. The book, by Rebecca Grambo and Branimir Gjetvag had been nomi-nated in 5 categories. The jury said this book was “a striking portrait of this unique Sas-katchewan ecosystem.” Long time Nature Saskatchewan member Gary Seib has taken over from Mary Gilliland as our Special Publications Editor. Gary is already very active with two upcoming Nature Sas-katchewan publications. Production is underway on what will probably be the last of our regional bird lists. Birds of

Rosetown-Bigger by Robert Wapple and Wayne Renaud. This is an updated version of a previ-ous publication of the same title. Stuart Houston, Al Smith, and editor J. Frank Roy are hard at work on Birds of Saskatchewan. It will be a large format, two volume reference set, printed in full colour with some black and white sketches. While Houston and Smith are the principal authors, many other naturalists will be working on the species accounts. Publica-tions of the first volume are expected in 2010. Our two quarterly publications continue to be a credit to our Society. We thank our editors; Anna and Ted Leighton for their commitment to Blue Jay, and Kim Dohms and Robert Warnock for their dedication to Nature Views. We are

Member Services Director’s Report

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currently looking into the cost implications of changing the print format of Nature Views. Awards: The Annual Awards program recognizes the in-valuable contribution of volunteers to the Soci-ety and to conservation. This year’s recipients were: Conservation Award: Green Cover Program (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada) Volunteer of the Year: Dennis Lawson Fellows Award: Muriel Carlson and Melanie Elliot Long Time Service Award: Theresa Dolman Cliff Shaw Award: Christian Artuso Larry Morgotch Award: Bill MacKenzie

Membership: Nature Saskatchewan’s membership levels have leveled off in recent years. At the end of the 2007-08 fiscal year, there were 1,240 members of the Society. This figure includes “Family Memberships” where two, or more, people in the same family are members. Nature Saskatchewan looks forward to working with a new and more efficient membership data-base in the next year. We wish to thank all those members who have purchased Lifetime memberships in the past year. A full like of Lifetime members appears at the beginning of this Annual Report. Nature Saskatchewan Web Site: We continue to make enhancements to our web site…www.naturesask.ca…visit us often! Respectfully submitted, Fraser Hunter

Photo Credit: Rick McNichol

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Loggerhead Shrike

Once again, it has been another busy year for our Natural Heritage Programs Manager, Mar-garet Skeel, program/project coordinators, vol-unteers and summer students (Rebecca West and Bobbi-Jo MacDougall) in the research port-folio. Many thanks are given to everyone who participated in or assisted with our research and stewardship programs and projects and to our funders and delivery partners. It is greatly ap-preciated. Here is a brief summary of the many activities in the past year.

Stewards of Saskatchewan: Nature Saskatchewan delivers three rural land-owner stewardship programs under the banner of Stewards of Saskatchewan (SOS). These in-clude Operation Burrowing Owl, Shrubs For Shrikes and Rare Plant Rescue. A fourth pro-gram, Plovers On Shore, will be initiated in 2008 and will focus on the endangered Piping Plover. The SOS programs have specific spe-cies upon which awareness, conservation and monitoring efforts are focused; however, an-other goal of the SOS programs is to use these “ambassador” species to conserve habitat for all prairie species including those at risk. In 2008, the SOS programs focusing on bird species will be broadened to include all bird species listed as at risk, and thus will also include the endan-gered Greater-sage Grouse, threatened Red-headed Woodpecker and threatened Sprague’s Pipit as candidates for SOS stewardship. The SOS programs share resources as well as jointly deliver some activities. In 2007-08, four Steward Appreciation Days workshops were delivered by the SOS programs in each of the Elrose (August), Moose Jaw (September), Mile-stone (February 2008) and Gull Lake (March 2008) areas to 38 rural residents. Workshops consisted of morning presentations on Nature Saskatchewan, agriculture & biodiversity, and the natural history of the local area; a BBQ lunch complete with a special guest, an im-printed educational Burrowing Owl from the

Saskatchewan Burrowing Owl Interpretive Cen-tre; and a field trip to a SOS habitat enhance-ment project site (summer/fall workshops) or guest presentation by another conservation agency (winter workshops). The Stewards Of Saskatchewan newsletter, was developed and mailed to all SOS participants in January 2008. A species-at-risk 2008 calendar featuring 12 species including photographs, ranges, natural history and threats to the species was developed and also distributed in January 2008 to all SOS participants. This was very popular. SOS staff made contact with hundreds of landowners and the general public through appearances at twelve trade shows, conferences and other events with the informative NS/SOS display as well as two visual presentations. In additions, awareness was raised about all SOS programs through advertising and articles in Na-ture Saskatchewan’s newsletter Nature Views and in other local nature society newsletters. Over the winter, the SOS staff again delivered the Nature Saskatchewan component of the Prairie Conservation Action Plan’s (PCAP) Eco-Extravaganza program to rural schools, as well as a new PCAP program, Prairie to Pave-ment, to rural (smaller) cities. SOS program-specific reports follow.

Operation Burrowing Owl:

Andrea Kotylak, Habitat Stewardship Coordina-tor, helped to deliver our three Stewards Of Sas-katchewan programs and coordinated the Op-eration Burrowing Owl program in 2007-08. Operation Burrowing Owl (OBO), launched in Saskatchewan in 1987, is a nationally recog-nized prairie stewardship program involving landowners, volunteers, and professionals across southern Saskatchewan. Researchers es-timate that only 500 to 800 pairs nest in Canada,

Research Director’s Report

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with approximately half of these nesting in each of Saskatchewan and Alberta. Operation Bur-rowing Owl has been working to reverse the downward population trend in cooperation with other organizations, private landowners and other individuals for the past 21 years. Land-owners with nesting owls are eligible to join OBO, and are encouraged to remain in the pro-gram whether or not owls return to nest on their land. Voluntary agreements with landowners to maintain habitat and report owls are indefinite, and only expire upon request. Landowners can also participate in OBO by undertaking a habitat enhancement project, and sign a ten-year agree-ment to maintain the area as pasture. In June 2007, a total of 432 landowners were participating in the OBO program, conserving 61,837 hectares (152,800 acres) of grassland habitat; 384 of these joined through having nest-ing owls (are involved in the monitoring compo-nent), and 48 joined through undertaking a habi-tat enhancement project (24 landowners in-volved in monitoring have also completed an enhancement project). In 2007, 12 new land-owners joined OBO through voluntary steward-ship agreements. The OBO Conservation Toolbox, a resource of conservation options (voluntary stewardship, habitat enhancement and conservation ease-ments), information materials and landowner workshops, was promoted to landowners. Four paid advertisements and one free advertisement requesting that the public report Burrowing Owl sightings were placed in rural newspapers and newsletters. OBO staff, as well as Saskatche-wan Watershed Authority (SWA) range agrolo-gists on behalf of OBO, personally visited 52 landowners in 2007-08. OBO assists landowners with grassland habitat enhancement and restoration through seeding cropland to grassland adjacent to existing pas-tures in order to enlarge pastures and reduce fragmentation. Strategic fencing and water de-velopment for livestock is also supported in or-der to preserve newly planted and existing na-tive prairie. The habitat enhancement program

is offered in areas that currently have or with past records of nesting Burrowing Owls or Log-gerhead Shrikes, and is at times delivered to-gether with SWA. In 2007, 15 Burrowing Owl habitat enhancement projects (1,235 acres seeded, 7.33 miles of fence erected and 1 alter-native water development) were completed. Landowners participate in the annual Burrowing Owl census to evaluate the success of the en-hancement work. A pilot study in 2007 of owl use of habitat enhancement sites found 5 pairs of owls and 11 single owls on 6 of 28 sites that were either habitat enhancement sites (3 pairs) or adjacent quarter sections (2 pairs); we had prior knowledge of owl presence at two of these sites. OBO landowners participate in an annual cen-sus to report the number of owls on their land and any changes to nesting habitat. In 2007, OBO participants reported 64 pairs of owls (corrected for non-reporting participants; 61 ac-tual pairs reported by 45 participants), only 94% of the 68 pairs reported in 2006 (corrected for non-reporting participants; 64 actual pairs re-ported by 59 participants). OBO has docu-mented an overall population decline of 93.8% from 1988 to 2007 with an average annual de-cline rate of 8.4%. The average annual rate of decline slowed from 20.6% between 1987-1994 to much less at 6.8% between 1994 - 2007, indi-cating threats to the population may be less se-vere than in previous years and habitat factors may be improving.

Shrubs for Shrikes: Michelle Yaskowich, Habitat Stewardship Co-ordinator, helped to deliver our three Stewards Of Saskatchewan (SOS) programs and coordi-nated the Shrubs for Shrikes program in 2007-08. Shrubs For Shrikes (SFS), launched in 2003, is a voluntary stewardship program dedicated to conserving disappearing nesting habitat and grassland for the Loggerhead Shrike and other prairie species.

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The Prairie Loggerhead Shrike population has declined more than 80% over the past 35 years. Shrike habitat enhancement projects (496 acres seeded) were completed in 2007. Landowners sign a ten-year agreement to maintain the en-hanced habitat as pasture, and also participate in the annual Loggerhead Shrike census to evalu-ate the success of the enhancement work. SFS landowners participate in an annual census to report the number of shrikes on their land and any changes to the nesting habitat. In 2007, 39 SFS participants reported 19 nesting pairs and seven single shrikes; participation in the SFS census has increased from 26 participants in 2006. The number of SFS participants is cur-rently too low to determine a population trend. The Prairie Loggerhead Shrike Recovery Team estimates the population to be 7,000 pairs in Saskatchewan (1999), 3,000 pairs in Alberta (1999) and 118 individuals in Manitoba (2002), with the population trend unclear in Saskatche-wan, stable at low levels in Alberta and continu-ing to decline in Manitoba. Modeled after the successful OBO program (see above), Shrubs For Shrikes works with private landowners and other organizations to increase the awareness of the Loggerhead Shrike and protect its habitat. Landowners with nesting shrikes are eligible to join SFS, as are landowners who enhance habi-tat for shrikes, and members are encouraged to remain in the program and to protect grassland habitat whether or not shrikes return to nest. Voluntary agreements with landowners to main-tain habitat and report shrikes are indefinite, and only expire upon request. In 2007, 8 new landowners joined SFS through voluntary stewardship agreements. A total of 47 landowners currently participate in the SFS program, conserving 2,006 hectares (4,957 acres) of grassland habitat; 44 joined through having nesting shrikes on their land and three joined through enhancing habitat (2 landowners involved in the monitoring have also completed an enhancement project). The SFS Conserva-tion Toolbox, a resource of conservation options (voluntary stewardship, habitat enhancement

and conservation easements), information mate-rials and landowner workshops, was promoted to landowners. Flyers requesting the public to report Burrowing Owl and Loggerhead Shrike sightings to Nature Saskatchewan (NS) were deposited into the mailboxes of 8 target rural communities (2,800 flyers in total) and one free ad ran in NS’s Na-

ture Views newsletter. NS staff visited 43 land-owners regarding SFS in 2007. SFS assists landowners with grassland habitat enhancement and restoration through seeding cropland to grassland in order to enlarge pas-tures and reduce fragmentation (these actions improve wildlife habitat), and through shrub planting (see OBO section). Three Loggerhead Shrike habitat enhancement projects (496 acres seeded) were completed in 2007. Landowners sign a ten-year agreement to maintain the en-hanced habitat as pasture, and also participate in the annual Loggerhead Shrike census to evalu-ate the success of the enhancement work. SFS landowners participate in an annual census to report the number of shrikes on their land and any changes to the nesting habitat. In 2007, 39 SFS participants reported 19 nesting pairs and seven single shrikes; participation in the SFS census has increased from 26 participants in 2006. The number of SFS participants is cur-rently too low to determine a population trend.

Rare Plant Rescue:

Tara Sample, Habitat Stewardship Manager, helped to deliver our three Stewards Of Sas-katchewan (SOS) programs and managed SOS communications, and coordinated the Rare Plant Rescue program in 2007-08. Tara left Nature Saskatchewan at the end of March to pursue other opportunities. Rare Plant Rescue (RPR), a voluntary steward-ship program launched in 2002, engages land-owners in conserving habitat where rare native plant species occur. Sixty-six landowners cur-rently participate in RPR and are conserving

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4,200 ha (10,500 acres) of habitat for one or more species of rare or endangered plants. Rare Plant Rescue works to prevent inadvertent de-struction by educating landowners, encouraging informed stewardship, and building relation-ships, all of which can be scaled into stronger forms of protection. There is no other project in

Saskatchewan specifically targeting habitat con-servation for rare native plants.

In the 2007 field season, Rare Plant Rescue fo-cused searches and education and awareness on the six species protected in Saskatchewan both provincially and federally as threatened, endan-gered or extirpated. These targeted plant species included Small White Lady's-Slipper, Tiny Cryptanthe, Sand Verbena, Western Spiderwort, Hairy Prairie Clover, and Slender Mouse-Ear Cress. Nine other candidate species for protec-tion in Saskatchewan were also tracked in both years. These species were Buffalograss, Bur Ragweed, Prickly Mild-vetch, Powell’s Salt-bush, Plain’s Grape fern, Upland Evening Prim-rose, Smooth Arid Goosefoot, Small Lupine, and Beaked Annual Skeleton Weed. Lands with historic records as well as adjacent areas with similar or suitable habitat were surveyed, with the focus being on private land.Landowners par-ticipating in the program in 2007 received a Species at Risk fact sheet and landowner guide, photograph(s) of potential species their land may support, other educational materials, con-servation easement information, and the RPR brochure. Stewards having rare plants on their land are offered certificate and gate sign recog-nition. Those conserving habitat suitable for rare plants are offered a certificate.

In 2007, Nature Saskatchewan and the Native Plant Society of Saskatchewan worked together to locate and conserve target rare plants. The three main components addressed in this joint project were: 1) Vegetation Workshops, 2) Sur-veys, and 3) Stewardship. Vegetation workshops provided training to volunteers to conduct sur-veys in areas of their choice. Location and site condition information resulting from these sur-veys will improve our limited knowledge of rare plant population size, distribution and ecology. The Rare Plant Rescue stewardship program

informs landowners of the unique features and requirements of these plants and the various management techniques aimed at conserving them. 2006 Piping Plover International Census:

Paule Hjertaas was the Saskatchewan Coordina-tor for the 2006 International Piping Plover Breeding Census. With the international census provisional results available, a poster on the 2006 Piping Plover International Census was completed and copies were sent to nature cen-ters in Chaplin, Douglas Provincial Park and Wynyard (Quill Lakes).

Agriculture and Biodiversity:

Nature Saskatchewan (NS) continued to distrib-ute widely to various program participants the Agriculture & Biodiversity series developed in 2005-06 and printed in February 2006. The se-ries includes ‘The Value of Biodiversity to Farming in Saskatchewan’ and ‘The Value of Biodiversity to Ranching in Saskatchewan’ fact sheets as well as ‘Biodiversity & Agriculture: A Companion Sheet’. These are available on the NS website ( www.naturesask.ca). Nature Saskatchewan (NS) continued educa-tional work on the mutual benefits of agriculture and biodiversity, and coordinated a Greencover Canada project spanning the three Prairie Prov-inces. NS delivered the Saskatchewan compo-nent through our Stewards of Saskatchewan programs including landowner Steward Appre-ciation Days workshops (see SOS above) and visits with landowners. Information from draft fact sheets from the Prairie Species At Risk Beneficial Management Practices project begun in 2007 were used to promote conservation for several species. The fact sheets continue to be developed with input from NS, and will be fi-nalized in the near future. As the BMP fact sheets are completed, these will be posted to the website (www.prairiesarbmp.ca). Plovers on Shore:

Although the Stewards of Saskatchewan (SOS) programs have specific species upon which 18

awareness, conservation and monitoring efforts are focused, the overall goal of SOS is to use these “ambassador” species to conserve habitat for all prairie species including those at risk. With this is mind, SOS has decided to expand its conservation horizons and include all bird species at risk in the province as well as one colourful insect. Beginning in 2008, the endangered Piping Plover and a species of special concern, the Monarch Butterfly, will be added as SOS target species. The endangered Greater Sage Grouse, threatened Red-headed Woodpecker and threat-ened Sprague’s Pipit will also be included in conservation efforts. Awareness and conserva-tion efforts for the Piping Plover will be deliv-ered through “Plovers On Shore”, a new volun-tary stewardship program under the Stewards of Saskatchewan banner to be initiated in April 2008 with Michelle Yaskowich as Plovers on Shore Coordinator. Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre

(SKCDC):

Nature Saskatchewan (NS) continued to manage funds for research projects (capture of data for rare species) for the SKCDC as part of our agreement with Saskatchewan Ministry of Envi-ronment. The SKCDC provided database man-agement, and poster and GIS support to NS for some of our programs as needed. NS hired two term employees, Carrie Suther-land and Diana Graves, as Endangered Species Data Technicians to assist the SKCDC for in-putting Piping Plover, Burrowing Owl and other Species at Risk occurrence information into the SKCDC databases. This included observation databases, historical data cards (hardcopy), and other formats. The document, “Report on Lichenological Studies in Saskatchewan” on geographical distribution and habitat on lichens at risk & rare lichens in grassland & forested landscapes, was completed by Bernard de Vries. Vulture Tracking:

The Turkey Vulture Tagging Project is in its sixth year. There are now more than 340 Turkey Vultures wearing wing tags, similar in size to cow ear tags. A project update was published in the Winter 2007 issue of Nature Views. An arti-cle titled “Tracking Saskatchewan nestling Tur-key Vultures” was published in the December 2007 issue of Blue Jay. To report sightings of tagged vultures, please phone Stuart or Mary Houston, between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., at 306-244-0742, or send e-mail message to: stuart.houston@usask.ca. Please do NOT phone in sightings of vultures without a known nest, and without wing tags. Thanks very much.

Last Mountain Bird Observatory (LMBO):

In January 2008 Nature Saskatchewan (NS), assumed sole responsibility for the operation and maintenance for the LMBO; previously NS co-managed LMBO with the Canadian Wildlife Service. At LMBO scientists and volunteers monitor the number and species of migrating songbirds and offer educational opportunities to the public. The Observatory, located at the north end of Last Mountain Lake, is the only one in the province. The fa-cility was open during the spring and fall mi-grations (May, August and September), and encourages visitors to the site and volunteers to assist in the monitoring program. About 500 visitors are attracted to the facility annu-ally. Al Smith, LMBO Manager, submitted the 2007 results of the monitoring program to the Canadian Wildlife Service and Nature Sas-katchewan. A summary of banding results for the spring and fall of 2007 appeared in the winter 2007 issue of Nature Views. A Nature Saskatchewan 60th Anniversary legacy fundraising campaign, A Flight Plan

for LMBO, is underway to raise $250,000 over the next 5 years for LMBO operations and existing and new programming. Please give generously.

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Wildlife Monitoring:

Christmas Bird and Mammal Counts:

The 2007 Christmas Bird and Mammal Count results were published in Blue Jay (March 2008 issue). There were 100 CBC counts and 91 CMC counts in 2007. Winter Birding Contest

Only 1 entry was submitted in 2007-08. It is strongly encouraged that Nature Saskatchewan members participate in the 2008-09 Winter Birding Contest. Breeding Bird Surveys A brief report for 2007 was published with the LMBO report in the Winter 2007 issue of Nature

Views. In addition to the above Nature Saskatchewan programming, I have been involved in work to complete the Proceedings for the 8th Prairie Con-servation Endangered Species Conference that

Photo Credit: G. Sutter

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was held March 1-3, 2007 in Regina with ap-proximately 400 delegates attending. The Pro-ceedings are in the layout stage at the Canadian Plains Research Centre. The 450-page volume will be ready this summer for distribution to conference participants and sponsors. Report submitted by: Robert Warnock

Monarch Butterfly

NATURE SASKATCHEWAN

PERSONNEL

2007-08

President

Vice President

Secretary

Treasurer

Past President

Honorary President

Administration Director

Conservation Director

Education Director

Member Services Director

Research Director

Member-at-Large

Member-at-Large

Member-at-Large

Member-at-Large

Member-at-Large

Bill MacKenzie

Bernie Ryma

Jaqueline Bolton

Bob MacFarlane

Attila Chanady

Dr. Doug Schmeiser

Mary Aird

Lorne Scott

Dr. Branimir Gjetvaj

Fraser Hunter

Robert Warnock

Dr. Yvonne Cuttle

Kim Dohms

Clem Miller

Gary Seib

Jared Clarke (until Dec ‘07)

Directors

Office Personnel

General Manager/Natural Heritage Programs

Manager

Member Services & Outreach Manager

Administrative Assistant

Office Coordinator

Margaret Skeel

Paul Wilson

Cheryl Parker (until July ‘07)

Kathleen McNab (until Jan ‘08)

Program Coordinators/ Contacts

Conservation Data Centre

Conservation Easements

Important Bird Areas

Last Mountain Bird Observatory

Living by Water

Nature Quest

Operation Burrowing Owl

Steve Porter

Margaret Skeel

Josef Schmutz

Alan Smith

Margaret Skeel

Paul Wilson

Andrea Kotylak

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Editors

Blue Jay

Nature Views

Special Publications

Anna and Ted Leighton

Kim Dohms and Rob Warnock

Mary Gilliand and Gary Seib

Local Society Presidents

Fort Qu’Appelle Nature Society

Indian Head Natural History Society

Kelsey Ecological Society

Nature Moose Jaw

Nature Prince Albert

Nature Regina

Saskatoon Nature Society

Southwest Naturalists

Weyburn Nature Society

Yorkton Natural History Society

Yellowhead Flyway Birding Trail Association

Ron Hooper

David Gehl (until Dec ‘07), Peter Buryk

Dave Weiman

Russ McKnight

Carman Dodge

Dale Hjertaas

Donna Bruce

Gerald Handley (until Dec ‘07), Norris Currie

Norm Flaten, Val Thomas (secretary)

Geoff Rushowick

Walter Farquharson, Rob Wilson (secretary)

Piping Plover Guardian

Rare Plant Rescue

PlantWatch Saskatchewan

Shrubs For Shrikes

Turtle Lake Nature Sanctuary

Vulture Tracking

Wascana Marsh Nature Project

Katherine Jacobson

Tara Sample

Deanna Trowsdale-Mutafov

Michelle Yaskowich

Muriel Carlson

Stuart Houston

Jan Kindred

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Watch for Local Society Reports on Nature Saskatchewan’s Web Site: www.naturesask.ca

2007-08 New Releases

• Great Sand Hills Book Launched - Feb 15, 2007 • Help Monitor Climate Change: Participate in PlantWatch - April 23, 2007 • Moose Jaw/ Chaplin Attractions at Spring

Meet - May 9, 2007 • Endangered Burrowing Owl Returning to Sas-

katchewan - May 7, 2007 • Loggerhead Shrikes Threatened and Wanted! -

May 14, 2007 • Have a Hooting Time at Nature Saskatchewan’s

Steward Appreciation Day - June 4, 2007

• Endangered Owls Begin Raising a Family - June 4, 2007

• Controlling Pests Naturally with Prairie Biodi-versity - June 7, 2007

• Best Time of the Year to See the Threatened "Butcher Bird" - June 11, 2007

• Burrowing Owls Invade New Territory: Owl Fledglings Take Flight - July 9, 2007

• North Battleford Site of Fall Meet - Sept 3, 2007 • Great Sand Hills Book Wins Publishing Award -

Nov 27, 2007

Thank You to Our Program Sponsors in 2007 - 08! Nature Saskatchewan gratefully acknowledges funding support for our programs: Agriculture and Biodiversity Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada – Greencover Canada Technical Assistance Program Great Sand Hills Book Project Saskatchewan Publishers Group – Cultural Industries Development Fund Last Mountain Bird Observatory Environment Canada – Canadian Wildlife Service NS Member Donations Living by Water Project Fisheries & Oceans Canada – Stewardship-In-Action Program Saskatchewan Environment – Fish & Wildlife Development Fund Saskatchewan Watershed Authority Local Society Support Program Saskatchewan Lotteries Nature Quest Saskatchewan Environment – Fish & Wildlife Development Fund SaskEnergy Nature Sanctuaries SaskEnergy Shell Environmental Fund NS Member Donations (Turtle Lake Nature Sanctuary) Piping Plover Guardian Program (Lake Diefenbaker) Government of Canada – Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk Saskatchewan Environment – Fish & Wildlife Development Fund Saskatchewan Watershed Authority Department of Advanced Education & Employment and SaskCulture Inc – Student Employment Experience SaskPower

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PlantWatch Environment Canada – EcoAction Community Funding Program SaskPower Saskatchewan Environment – Green Initiatives Program Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre NatureServe Canada Stewards of Saskatchewan: Operation Burrowing Owl, Shrubs For Shrikes & Rare Plant Rescue Alliance Pipeline’s Community Investment Program (SFS) ECO Canada – Environmental Youth Corp. Program (OBO) EJLB Foundation Government of Canada – Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk Saskatchewan Environmental Industry & Managers Association and Government of

Saskatchewan – Green Team Student Employment Program Saskatchewan Environment – Fish & Wildlife Development Fund SaskEnergy (through Prairie Conservation Action Plan) SaskPower Service Canada – Canada Summer Jobs Program Shell Environmental Fund (SFS) TD Friends of the Environment Foundation (OBO) World Wildlife Fund & Environment Canada - Endangered Species Recovery Fund NS Member Donations Vulture Tracking Project NS Member Donations Wascana Marsh Nature Project TD Friends of the Environment Foundation

Nature Saskatchewan receives funding from Saskatchewan Lotteries

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